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Baseball cities:
urban population,
pro sports franchises,
stadium capacity,
and attendance trends


Home page >> Baseball home page >> Franchises >> Baseball cities Last updated:
(First posted: June, 2003)


Background

Many of the biggest controversies on the business side of Major League Baseball involves demographics and the geographic distribution of other professional sports franchises. If a particular franchise is failing financially, should it be allowed to relocate to a new city, and if so, how close to an existing MLB city should it be allowed to move? If a new stadium is to be built, how big should it be in terms of seating capacity, and where should it be located? Both issues arose during the prolonged process by which the former Montreal Expos franchise finally relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2005, and changed its name to the "Nationals"; see the Washington Nationals page. It is also pertinent to the ongoing two-phase relocation of the former Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas, Nevada. (Since 2025 they have been temporarily residing in Sacramento, California until their new stadium is completed -- presumably in 2028.) The following table highlights cases where attendance has been growing (or declining) at a rate substantially higher than (or less than) than average. It also highlights cases where 2022 attendance relative to stadium capacity was either significantly greater or less than average. Some of these data are summarized in a graph and map at the bottom of this page.

City (Team)
(Miles between stadiums)		 Population
(2020 MSA*)		 Annual population growth rate
(2010-2020) 		Professional sports franchises
(2023)		 Major League Baseball
MLB
NFL

(+CFL)		 NBA NHL Official stadium capacity
(2023)		 2010-2019 attendance, annual avg.
(millions)		 2000-2010 attendance, growth rate
(log linear) 		2010-2019 attendance, growth rate
(log linear) 		2022 attendance
(millions)		 2022 attendance
(% of capacity)
New York (10) 20,140,470 0.7% 2 2 2 3 89,445 5.8 3.8% -0.8% 5.7 78.7%
(Mets) 42,136 2.4 2.9% 0.2% 2.6 75.1%
(Yankees) 47,309 ( + ) 3.4 2.4% -1.5% 3.1 81.8%
Los Angeles-Anaheim (32) 13,200,998 0.3% 2 2 2 2 101,517 6.7 3.7% 0.7% 6.3 76.8%
(Dodgers) 56,000 ( - ) 3.6 2.8% 2.1% 3.9 85.1%
(Angels) 45,517 3.1 5.0% -0.8% 2.5 66.7%
Chicago (10) 9,618,502 0.2% 2 1 1 1 81,604 4.8 2.6% -0.5% 4.6 70.0%
(Cubs) 41,363 3.0 1.6% 1.0% 2.6 78.1%
(White Sox) 40,241 1.8 3.7% -3.0% 2.0 61.6%
Dallas--Fort Worth (Rangers) 7,637,387 2.0% 1 1 1 1 40,000 2.7 -1.5% -3.5% 2.0 62.1%
Houston (Astros) 7,122,240 2.0% 1 1 1 0 41,000 2.2 -1.3% 4.6% 2.7 81.0%
Washington (Nationals) 6,385,162 1.5% 1 1 1 1 41,376 2.4 -7.1% 2.5% 2.0 60.5%
Philadelphia (Phillies) 6,245,051 0.5% 1 1 1 1 42,901 2.7 8.9% -7.0% 2.3 65.5%
Miami (Marlins) 6,138,333 1.1% 1 1 1 1 37,446 1.5 2.7% -6.8% 0.9 29.9%
Atlanta (Braves) 6,089,815 1.6% 1 1 1 0 41,149 2.4 -1.5% 0.2% 3.1 93.9%
Toronto, Canada (Blue Jays) 5,928,040 1.8% 1 1 * 1 1 49,282 2.4 1.2% 3.8% 2.7 66.5%
Boston (Red Sox) 4,941,632 0.9% 1 1 1 1 37,755 3.0 1.9% -0.7% 2.6 85.8%
Phoenix (Diamondbacks) 4,845,832 1.6% 1 1 1 1 48,359 2.1 -3.6% 0.2% 1.6 41.0%
San Francisco-Oakland (11) 4,749,008 1.0% # 1 # 1 1 1 88,762 4.9 -2.0% -0.5% 3.3 45.5%
(Giants) 41,915 3.2 -1.4% -0.9% 2.5 73.1%
(Athletics #) 46,847 1.6 -3.1% 0.4% 0.8 20.8%
Detroit (Tigers) 4,392,041 0.2% 1 1 1 1 41,083 2.5 5.1% -5.4% 1.6 47.3%
Montreal, Canada (Expos 1969-2004) 4,027,100 1.3% 0 1 * 0 1 0.1%
Seattle (Mariners) 4,018,762 1.7% 1 1 0 1 47,929 2.0 -4.8% 1.1% 2.3 58.9%
Minneapolis-St. Paul (Twins) 3,690,261 1.3% 1 1 1 1 38,544 2.4 7.4% -5.2% 1.8 57.7%
San Diego (Padres) 3,298,634 0.7% 1 0 0 0 40,222 2.2 -0.7% 1.1% 3.0 91.7%
St. Louis (Cardinals) 2,820,253 0.0% 1 0 0 1 44,494 3.4 1.1% 0.9% 3.3 92.1%
Tampa--St. Petersburg (Rays) 3,175,275 1.5% 1 1 0 1 25,025 ( + ) 1.4 4.6% -4.7% 1.1 55.7%
Baltimore (Orioles) 2,844,510 0.5% 1 1 0 0 45,791 2.0 -6.0% -2.4% 1.4 36.9%
Denver (Rockies) 2,963,821 1.7% 1 1 1 1 50,144 2.8 -1.2% 0.5% 2.6 63.9%
Pittsburgh (Pirates) 2,370,930 0.1% 1 1 0 1 38,753 2.0 -2.2% -1.7% 1.3 40.1%
Cincinnati (Reds) 2,256,884 0.6% 1 1 0 0 43,891 2.1 -1.4% -3.3% 1.4 39.3%
Cleveland (Indians) 2,088,251 0.1% 1 1 1 0 34,788 1.7 -6.1% 2.2% 1.3 46.0%
Kansas City (Royals) 2,192,035 0.8% 1 1 0 0 37,903 1.9 0.8% 1.1% 1.3 41.6%
Milwaukee (Brewers) 1,574,731 0.1% 1 1 1 0 41,700 2.7 5.0% -0.6% 2.4 71.7%
Sacramento (Athletics: temporary #) 2,374,749 10.5% 1 0 0 0 14,000 - - - - -
OTHER POTENTIAL MLB CITIES:
Orlando, Florida 2,673,376 2.5% 0 0 1 0
Charlotte, North Carolina 2,660,329 1.9% 0 1 1 1
San Antonio, Texas 2,558,143 2.0% 0 0 1 0
San Juan, Puerto Rico (Expos 2003-2004) 2,448,000 -1.2% 0 0 0 0
Portland, Oregon 2,512,859 1.4% 0 0 1 0
Las Vegas, Nevada (Athletics: future #) 2,265,461 1.7% # 1 0 1
Nashville, Tennessee 1,989,519 2.1% 0 1 0 1
Other cities with pro sports franchises: 0 4 6 7
TOTALS 30 32 (+2) 30 32 94.9 84.5
ASTERISKS / KEY:

# : The Athletics are in the midst of a unique two-phase relocation, expected to be completed in 2028.		 * Metropolitan Statistical Area * Canadian Football League
( + ) : Official capacity is understated, with thousands of seats not used for baseball, most notably for Tropicana Field, where attendance has generally been very low. This was also done in Oakland Coliseum from 2006 until mid-April 2017.
( - ) : Official capacity at Dodger Stadium has probably always been overstated. 		Very high
( > 2%)		 . Very high
( > 80%)
Very low
( < -2%)		 Very low
( < -40%)

NOTE: The "log-linear" growth rates are based on 10 or 11 years of data, and are therefore more meaningful than growth rates that merely compare the beginning year to the final year, such as the 2010-2020 population growth figures. They are simply the slope of a regression line of the natural logarithm of each year's data, using an arbitrary increment (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ...) as the independent variable. Since there was NO public attendance at regular-season baseball games during the 2020 covid-19 emergency, attendance growth trends for the past decade are based on 2010-2019 rather than 2010-2020.

SOURCES: World Almanac and Book of Facts 2012 and 2022; U.S. Bureau of the Census; Forbes Magazine Sportsmoney Baseball special issue 2008; baseball-reference.com; ESPN

Attendance benchmark comparisons

Annual attendance 4,500,000 4,000,000 3,500,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000
Corresponding average attendance per game (81 games) 55,555 49,382 43,209 37,037 30,864 24,691 18,518 12,345
MLB cities pop. & att.

MLB cities map Washington
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