  09/29/2003 4:12 PM ET
Major League Baseball attendance rebounds
FOX national ratings increase by six percent
Major League Baseball, led by a dramatic conclusion during the final month of the championship season, drew more than 67 million fans for the sixth consecutive season and saw its FOX national ratings increase by six percent over last year, it was announced today.
By drawing 1,665,101 fans in its final weekend -- the second largest three-day period of the season and among the top ten such periods in the game's history -- Major League Baseball attendance for the season reached 67,667,670 for an average of 28,055 and virtually equaled last season's attendance. MLB attendance had started poorly, seven percent behind 2002 three weeks into the season and five percent down at the end of May, because of inclement weather throughout the country, the weak economy, the war in Iraq, and the SARS scare that particularly struck Toronto.
As 20 Major League Clubs entered the last month of the season either leading a Division or a Wild Card berth or within five games of a Division or Wild Card lead, average attendance during September was 27,874, a 6.1 percent increase over the September 2002 average of 26,278. To illustrate the competitive nature of Major League Baseball during this month, 75 percent of the 389 games played involved clubs that either would reach the playoffs or had legitimate hopes of doing so.
Also, an all-time high 30 Clubs surpassed the one million mark in total attendance, and four Clubs -- Anaheim, 3,061,094 (2,2807,360 in 1982); Boston, 2,724,165 (2,650,063 in 2002); Chicago Cubs, 2,962,630 (2,813,854 in 1999); and New York Yankees, 3,465,640 (3,461,644 in 2002) -- set all-time franchise attendance records this season.
FOX, which posted a 3.0/7 household rating/share for its 18th and final regular season broadcast last Saturday, pulled in a 3.4/9 household rating/share for the 2003 season which is 6 percent greater than the 3.2/8 numbers reached in 2002. (All FOX figures are based on metered market averages according to Nielsen Media.)
"The fact that Major League Baseball attendance has rebounded so dramatically and the FOX national ratings have increased in a difficult television ratings environment is a true testament to our fans and the continuing popularity of our game," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "With improved attendance and successful ratings results from both the 2003 All-Star Game and FOX Saturday Baseball, we believe Major League Baseball is in a very positive position as we enter a compelling post-season with eight very exciting clubs."
Following are some other attendance highlights from the 2003 Major League Baseball championship season:
Fifteen of the 30 Major League Clubs showed increases from their final 2002 attendance figures.
For the first time ever, a market had more than one Major League franchise each draw more than 3 million fans as the Anaheim Angels (3,061,094) and Los Angeles Dodgers (3,138,626) each surpassed that mark.
Since the All-Star Game in Chicago on July 15, 2003, average attendance was 29,063, a 2.9 percent increase over last year's average attendance after the All-Star Game (28,233).
The average attendance since Interleague Play opened on June 3, 2003 through the end of the season was 29,261, a 0.8 percent increase over the same time frame last year (29,039).
The final weekend of Interleague Play in 2003 (June 27-29) drew 1,710,071, the third highest three-day total attendance in baseball history. On Saturday, June 28, Major League Baseball established the fourth highest single day total in history with a total attendance of 620,083.
For the sixth straight season, more than 100 million fans attended professional baseball games at both the Major (67,667,670) and Minor League (39,069,707) levels combined. The grand total of 106,737,377 was the third highest total of all-time (111,226,284 in 2001 and 110,396,789 in 2000).
(All of the above figures are unofficial pending final audited figures.)
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Official Info