2018 MLB Attendance Analysis

Some of the most shocking storylines so far have been the fact that the Pirates are in first place in the NL Central, the Red Sox have won 7 straight, and the Marlins are just as bad as everyone expected. We’re taking a step back from the game to game analysis and instead looking at something that has absolutely nothing to do with a team’s success – how does a team’s payroll correlate to their average home game attendance.

Note: the Cubs have not played a home game yet so there is no data for Wrigley Field. The Cubs payroll in 2018 is $182,953,639 (4th highest).

Some of the most surprising results are probably the Marlins, Phillies, Rockies, and Red Sox. The entire graph shows a decently strong correlation though, with a correlation coefficient of .58 and an R-squared of .38. Average home game attendance does not entirely demonstrate a team’s true attendance, because stadiums like the Ray’s are up to 15,000 seats smaller than teams like the Dodgers’ stadium. Below is each team’s stadium capacity percentage so far (how many tickets they sell divided by the total number of seats in the stadium).

Below is the data for all attendance so far this seasons. Some teams have only played 2 home games (and again the Cubs have not played any) so averages are certainly subject to change by the end of the season.