2017 Sport Entertainment & Venues Tomorrow (SEVT 2017)
Team, Offense, and Pitching Statistics’ Effect on MLB Attendance
Mark Davis, Troy University
John Miller, Troy University
Poster Presentation
Abstract 2017-009
Friday, March 17, 2023
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Economics and Finance
Atrium
Every Major League Baseball (MLB) organization looks to optimize attendance by fielding a team that has a high
probability of success. A result of a successful team is increased fan attendance which is essential for organizational
growth due to the revenue it generates (Gennaro, 2007). Continuous low attendance could cause clubs to relocate
such as the Montreal Expos moving to Washington D.C. due to their inability to draw fans to their games (Harris,
2004). As such, it is vital for organizations to recognize the factors important to MLB fans when filling their rosters
(Ahn & Lee, 2014; Lewis & Yoon, 2016). A closer look at attendance patterns is needed to help understand fan
interests and help prevent future relocations.
MLB baseball provides entertainment for millions of fans a year. It is important for MLB organizations to know why
fans attend games to provide the needed product to entertain their fan base. The purpose of this study is to test how
Lancaster’s (1966) approach to consumer theory relates to MLB attendance during the 2013 to 2016 seasons and
makes three assumptions. The first assumption explains that a product’s characteristics create consumer satisfaction,
not the product itself. The second assumption presupposes that the product has multiple characteristics and these
characteristics may be shared by more than one product. Finally, a combination of products may contain different
characteristics than those of the individual products. Using this approach to view the MLB, the product is the team’s
makeup and the product combination is a particular competition between teams (Lancaster, 1966). This study builds
on previous studies (Baumer & Zimbalist, 2014; Ahn & Lee, 2014; Lewis & Yoon, 2016; Lee, 2016) to determine
how overall team performance, team offensive factors, and team pitching factors impact a team’s percentage of
attendance to stadium capacity. The overall team performance refers to a team’s winning percentage. The team
offensive factors included are home runs, stolen bases, runs scored, and batting average. Finally, the team pitching
factors included are strikeouts, earned run average (ERA), walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP), and runs
allowed.
The researcher obtained historical attendance, team performance, offensive, and pitching records from the 2013 to
2016 season from www.baseball-reference.com. The dependent variable of attendance was presented as a percentage
of capacity. The independent variables of team winning percentage, home runs, stolen bases, batting average, runs
scored, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, and runs allowed were divided into five ranges. These ranges were calculated using
the highest and lowest values of each area from MLB seasons 2013 to 2016. Teams were sorted based on the range
their season totals fall within. Analysis A Pearson’s r test was performed on the different ranges using SPSS. The
confidence level used for this analysis was .05. The results of this analysis will help determine if any range of
independent factors has a significant relationship with the dependent variable of attendance as a percentage of
capacity.
This poster presentation will provide the results of this quantitative analyses including: 1) how overall performance
effects attendance as a percentage of capacity; 2) how offensive performance effects attendance as a percentage of
capacity; 3) how pitching performance effects attendance as a percentage of capacity. It is hoped the information
provided will help MLB organizations gain a deeper understanding of their fan base.
Columbia, SC
March 22 – 24, 2017
Page 12