Major League Baseball (MLB)* missed out on an estimated 28.23 million live fans in 2021 due to restricted seating, according to GlobalData, which notes this equates to a hefty sum of $1.78 billion missed revenues. The leading data and analytics company notes that crowd capacity restrictions, which were imposed on a regional basis, meant that all but one of the teams – the Texas Rangers – had limited crowd numbers for at least a part of the season.

Jake Kemp, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The return of live crowds in 2021, despite the slow crawl back to full capacity, marked a welcome return for both teams and their owners. They had reason to be relieved. Baseball games are capable of attracting huge crowds of up to more than 50,000 live fans in the US. When you consider that each team plays 81 home games across the season, that’s a huge 2,430 regular season games played – most of which had reduced ticketing. Further, if you thought ticket $1.78 billion missed revenue alone was substantial, that doesn’t include ‘additional sales’ such as food, drink and souvenirs. The full sum will be much higher.”

GlobalData’s research identified which teams missed out on the most ticket revenue this season. Of the teams studied, the Boston Red Sox saw one of the more substantial figures, missing out on around 1.19 million fans collectively. At an average admission of $94.12, that is a $111.8 million loss for 2021.

Kemp continues: “While lockdowns and crowd restrictions were the main driver for losses, that isn’t the whole picture. Boston Red Sox’s missed revenue reached incredible figures, even though the team was able to welcome back 100% capacities at Fenway Park from May 29. Fans needed the confidence to return to stalls, and a sense of normality wasn’t resumed until at least the start of the World Series.”

GlobalData’s research also assessed the number of sponsorship deals signed for each MLB team in 2021. In winning its first title in 26 years, the Atlanta Braves has improved its future commercial potential, at least heading into 2022.

Kemp adds: “The Atlanta Braves are currently sitting near the bottom of GlobalData’s sponsorship deals ranking with only 11 active brand sponsors in 2021. The team will be looking to boost this figure following its unlikely championship win. On the other end of the ranking, the LA Dodgers saw one of the highest sponsor uptakes across the league.”

Kemp continues: “In terms of sponsorship portfolios, the Texas Rangers continues to boast the largest of any MLB team – with 38 deals in 2021. The team’s strong commercial position is built on a number of factors, including a beneficial geographical market (with Texas being one of the largest US states) and a strong fanbase, with over 4.24 million combined social media followers. Its commercial strength is made even more extraordinary, given the team’s lack of ultimate success – having only twice finished as World Series runners-up.

“While the Rangers stand atop the sponsorship volume charts, it is worth highlighting that historical success in the sport does also yield strong commercial returns – with the two most popular and iconic teams, the Red Sox and Yankees, boasting the second and third highest number of sponsorship deals. The Red Sox raked in the most revenue from these deals, at $38.1 million per season.”

* Research based on 30 active teams within the MLB