MLB completed a fourth-consecutive annual attendance gain, recording its first such streak in nearly two decades.
That run is now at risk amid growing labor worries.
With Sunday’s end of the regular season, the league had a total attendance of 71.75 million for 2026, or 29,540 per game. That is up 0.5% from 2025, and represents the first four-year period of growth since 2004–07. Even with injuries during the season to megastars such as the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Yankees’ Aaron Judge, fans continue to embrace elements such as the pitch clock and the newly introduced automatic ball-strike system.
The league went into the season with optimism about its attendance, and that sentiment held up throughout the sixth-month schedule.
Among the highlights from the attendance figures:
- The Dodgers led the league in attendance for the 13th consecutive season, posting a 2026 total of 4.03 million that set a new franchise record. The club’s gaudy total included 40 crowds of more than 50,000, and 14 sellouts in what is MLB’s largest ballpark. The A’s, playing a second of three interim seasons in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento had the least attendance at 799,240.
- The Rays had the biggest attendance gain after returning to Tropicana Field, nearly doubling their attendance to 1.4 million. The White Sox had the largest organic increase, using an upstart return to the postseason to add more than 535,000 to their yearly total and reach 1.99 million for the season.
- The Mets had MLB’s largest attendance decline after a second straight season out of the playoffs. The club shed more than 472,000 to its total and ended 2026 with an aggregate draw of 2.71 million at Citi Field.
Bargaining Matters
The positive momentum could face a brutal challenge in 2027 and beyond as MLB owners and players remain locked in a serious labor dispute. The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and a management lockout is expected at that point. Among the key points of division is the owners’ pursuit of a salary cap, something bitterly opposed by players.
After the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and slightly abbreviated 1995 season amid a labor fight, it required a dozen seasons for MLB to return to the per-game attendance average it had just before play stopped, as fan backlash was severe.
That 12-year period included Cal Ripken setting MLB’s consecutive games played record, the home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, the Yankees dynasty, the peak exploits of Barry Bonds, and a lengthy run of new stadium development. The league is hardly assured of another period like that to help draw fans back to ballparks.
