MILWAUKEE (AP) — Blame it on lingering effects of the pandemic, resentment over the lockout or economic fears.
Major League Baseball is struggling to fill the stands at pre-COVID levels as the sport heads into the last 2 1/2 months of its first season since 2019 without capacity restrictions.
MLB reached the All-Star break with an average attendance of 26,409. That represents a drop of 5.4% from the All-Star break of 2019 — which was 10 days earlier than this year.
League officials remain encouraged and point to the recovery.
“We have come back to between 94-95% of where we were prior to the pandemic,” MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden said.