As they open a three-game series against the Pirates on Monday evening at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals are down in home attendance so far in 2024.
The franchise currently ranks sixth in the majors with an average of 37,076 fans per game at Busch. That accounts for tickets sold, but the number of no shows appears to be up, with fans opting to stay away from the ballpark instead of using their purchased tickets.
Theories:
1. Losing has reduced the enthusiasm
2. Ownership isn’t fully committed to winning
3. John Mozeliak fatigue
4. Terribly poor messaging
5. Nothing personal, but so far this is a pretty boring team that’s low on charisma
6. The Cardinals have a below-average offense. I’m being kind in that assessment. It’s a bad offense
7. Speaking of the annoying outfield carousel
8. The wasting of the Goldschmidt-Arenado years
9. That’s another problem. The Cardinals have run out of legend-class stars
10. This is hardly a scientific finding, but fans really seem to dislike manager OIi Marmol
Finally, there’s a non-baseball reason- "Fans concerned about their safety."
please allow me to repeat something: the Cardinals still rank sixth in home attendance, so this is hardly a disaster. But there’s an obvious loss of confidence in ownership-management and the direction of the franchise, so the decrease in support is predictable.
