MLB Eyes Third Straight Attendance Increase, Mets Hope for Soto Boost

Seeking further fruits after a historic business boom in 2024, MLB is projecting another attendance increase this year. 

League commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that early sales numbers point to MLB posting yet another increase at the gate, following gains seen in both 2023 and last year, reaching a total of 71.35 million. If another boost happens in 2025, that would represent the first three-year streak of MLB attendance gains since 2005–2007. 

“At the risk of jinxing myself, we do have great expectations for 2025,” Manfred said during a spring training media availability in Arizona. “Our clubs are telling us that they expect that we’ll be up, attendance-wise.”

Three main components are fueling the increases at the gate:

• A set of rule changes, first implemented in 2023, included a pitch clock, larger bases, and a ban on extreme defensive shifts. Those alterations have promoted a much more action-filled brand of baseball being played and fueled significant improvements in key measures such as average game times and stolen bases—in turn boosting the sport’s appeal, particularly among younger fans.
• A historically robust collection of star on-field talent, particularly international and younger players, that includes Shohei Ohtani, Elly De La Cruz, and Paul Skenes, among others. 
• Big-market teams such as the Dodgers and Yankees performing and spending at high levels, a group that perhaps will be joined this year by the Red Sox. 

“Over the last couple of years, we feel like we’ve made great improvements with respect to the game on the field,” Manfred said. “We have a great generation of really talented players who are playing a game that is crisp, athletic, and action-packed.”

Over in Queens

The Mets, of course, will be in the spotlight all season, with last year’s trip to the National League Championship Series followed by the signing of free agent Juan Soto to a record-setting $765 million contract. 

That unprecedented, 15-year deal quickly prompted a spike in ticket sales for the club. Mets owner Steve Cohen, however, is still looking for an even greater lift, and Tuesday was lamenting the relatively meager totals at Citi Field from when the Mets finished 18th in the league with a total draw of 2.33 million—nearly a million behind the crosstown Yankees.

“I didn’t like it. It really bothered me,” Cohen said of the Mets’ 2024 attendance. “People didn’t show up. I can’t speak for why that is. … There’s always been a little bit of skepticism with the Mets and believing that we’re going to be sustainable winners, sustainably in the playoffs.”

Cohen, speaking at the club’s spring training facility in Florida, did note the sales bump heading into the 2025 season.

“I’m really hopeful. I’m really looking forward to this year being a year when fans come out,” he said.