MLB draws 45.3 million fans as spectators return, down from 68.5 million before COVID

New York: Major League Baseball drew 45.3 million fans this year as fans gradually were allowed to return, down from 68.5 million over 2019 in the last season before the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles Dodgers led the major leagues in home attendance at 2.8 million. They did not start selling full capacity until games in mid-June. This year’s MLB season averaged 18,901 for 2,397 dates, the commissioner’s office said Monday. Atlanta was second at 2.3 million, followed by San Diego at 2.2 million, Texas and St. Louis at 2.1 million and Houston at 2.07 million. The New York Yankees drew 1.96 million, Boston 1.7 million and the Mets 1.5 million in Steven Cohen’s first season as owner. Miami was last at 640,000, Oakland 29th at 700,000, Tampa Bay 28th at 760,000, Baltimore 27th at 790,000 and Toronto 26th at 800,000. The Blue Jays played home games at their spring training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, and then their Triple-A ballpark in Buffalo, New York, before returning home on 30 July to the Rogers Centre, where capacity reached a maximum of about 29,000 in late September. Only Texas began the 2021 season at 100% capacity, with other US teams reaching full capacity availability ranging from Atlanta on 7 May to Seattle on 2 July. Other dates for reaching full capacity were Arizona (25 May), Boston (29 May), Kansas City (31 May), Baltimore (1 June), Cincinnati and Cleveland (2 June. Philadelphia (4 June), Detroit (8 June), the Chicago Cubs and Washington (11 June), Philadelphia (12 June), St. Louis (14 June), the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego (17 June), the Yankees (18 June), the Mets (21 June), the Chicago White Sox, Houston, Milwaukee and San Francisco (25 June), Colorado (28 June), Oakland (29 June), Pittsburgh (1 July) and Minnesota and Tampa Bay (5 July). MLB played a shortened 2020 schedule due to the pandemic, a regular season played entirely without fans. A small percentage of capacity was sold for neutral site postseason games in Arlington, Texas, where 75,843 attended the Dodgers’ win over Atlanta in the seven-game NL Championship Series and 68,622 attended the Dodgers’ victory over Tampa Bay in a six-game World Series.