Dodgers Set Club Record For Attendance Even As MLB Average Ticks Downward
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) — Attendance at Major League Baseball games may be trending down this season, but at Chavez Ravine, fans can't get enough of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The NL champion Dodgers set a club record this season in average attendance before becoming the first team in NL West history to win the division in six consecutive seasons and the first MLB team to win six straight division titles since the New York Yankees, who accomplished the feat by winning the AL East in nine consecutive season from 1998-2006.
But overall, average attendance at MLB games was down about 4 percent to 28,830, its lowest since 2003 after 14 consecutive seasons topping 30,000, and six stadiums set record lows.
Baltimore's Camden Yards, Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field, Minnesota's Target Field, Miami's Marlins Park and Pittsburgh's PNC Park also drew their smallest attendance since opening as part of a ballpark boom. In a season of unusually cold and wet weather, 17 of the 30 teams experienced drops.
On-field success and attendance usually are linked, but not always.
Colorado drew its biggest crowds since 2001, World Series champion Houston since 2007 and the New York Yankees since 2012 — including a new Yankee Stadium record 23 sellouts.
The Dodgers will kick off Game 1 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
