Major League Baseball (MLB) is only one month into the 2024 season. However, the league is already seeing strong evidence that its efforts to quicken the pace of play are paying off.
According to numbers MLB posted to X on Wednesday, “The 2024 average attendance of 26,927 marks the best through the end of April for @MLB since the 2017 season, and it represents a +0.9% increase over 2023.”
The 2024 average attendance of 26,927 marks the best through the end of April for @MLB since the 2017 season, and it represents a +0.9% increase over 2023. pic.twitter.com/LbyuTh5FkI
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) May 1, 2024
Not only that, MLB ratings on FOX jumped 25 percent, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball shot up 19 percent, and live games on MLB Network have seen a 13 percent increase.
To be clear, the pace of play rule changes (pitch clock, limited mound visits, larger bases, etc.) did not begin this year; they actually started last year. The returns were positive then as well. However, ratings took another hit during a lackluster World Series, causing league executives to wonder if there would be a hangover effect hurting league numbers at the start of the 2024 season.
Thankfully for Commish Rob Manfred and the crew, it has not.
League executives are also likely smiling over the increase in young people watching the game. According to the league’s numbers, among the all-important 18-34 demographic, Fox has seen a 32% increase, ESPN shows a 38% jump, and MLB Network a whopping 50% increase.
Dodgers’ Mookie Betts points skyward while rounding the bases after hitting a homer past the Giants on a line drive to left-center field in the third inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Many predicted that if MLB instituted pace-of-play rules, the ratings, specifically among young people, would likely increase, which appears to be the case. So, the rule changes are indeed the driving force behind the viewership and attendance growth. There could also be something else in play. I stress I have no empirical data to back this up.
However, maybe, just maybe, with the country going to hell in a handbasket, there is a yearning on the part of a lot of people, even young people, to reconnect with America’s pastime. Maybe, just maybe, in a world where everything is going a hundred miles per hour, and everyone seems to be yelling at you, there’s a desire to sit back and enjoy a game that – even at a quickened pace – is relaxing and fun.
Just a thought.
