The St. Louis Cardinals, entering the 2025 MLB season, were heading into a transition year. With Chaim Bloom taking over as president of baseball operations from John Mozeliak after the season, it was a strange year for St. Louis.
With a month to go before the trade deadline, the Cardinals could've been buyers. Instead, after a rough July, they sold Ryan Helsley and two other relievers to contenders, signifying a lost season.
Amid the down year and transition coming in the offseason, it wasn't a surprise that the attendance numbers at Busch Stadium were down. Joey Schnieder of Fox2Now shared Cardinals executive Bill DeWitt III's comments on those low attendance numbers, saying that he and the organization have "received the message."
Cardinals executive Bill DeWitt III responds to low attendance numbers
"The (attendance) numbers are down." DeWitt III said. "It's something we're not happy about. If to the extent that that's a message, the message has been received."
Bill DeWitt III: "The [attendance] numbers are down. It's something we're not happy about. If to the extent that that's a message, the message has been received."
— Joey Schneider (@joeyschneider95) September 30, 2025
On attendance, he acknowledges the importance of a "winning team", plus business and operational factors. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/k8VAEFqoyb
The Cardinals' average tickets sold per game was 27,778. That number was the lowest it's been since the 1995 season, the season right after strikes ended the 1994 season early.
St. Louis fans haven't been showing up for more than just this season, however. Since 2023, their total ticket sales have dropped significantly, with 628,108 fewer tickets sold in 2025 than in 2024. The more alarming number is the 991,084 fewer tickets sold in 2025 than in 2023, a drop of nearly one million over two seasons.
After the 2022 season, the last year with Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright together in the Majors, the Cardinals saw their performance and attendance slip.
More: Cardinals set record-setting low attendance at Busch Stadium in 2025
After a 93-69 2022 season, the Cardinals then went 71-91 in 2023, then 83-79 in 2024, and in 2025, they went 78-84. It's the worst three-year stretch the club has had in some time, as the last time they had two years under 80 wins in a three-year span was from 1997 to 1999.
The attendance dip is something that the Cardinals are looking to correct heading into the 2026 season. However, with the club looking to enter a rebuild, those low attendance numbers might not increase anytime soon.
Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and potentially many others could be traded this offseason. Those moves won't bring fans in, as it's a sign the team isn't planning to contend.
It might be the right move to build a strong team looking into the future, but in the short term, the fans won't show up to support the club if it's a weaker roster in a rebuild year.
While DeWitt's response shows that the Cardinals are aware of the low attendance numbers, there's still a lot of work to be done before Cardinals fans return to the stadium like they have before.
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