Up Rooting: Sports Marketing Analytics and Attendance in Major League Baseball

Spurred by a continuous decline in Major League Baseball (MLB) ticket sales and attendance, this study examines external and internal factors affecting team financial performance. Using only secondary data, constructs for external factors (i.e. population, facility age, etc.), team offensive performance (i.e. at-bats, home runs, etc.), attendance, and revenue-based financial metrics were analyzed with PLS-SEM. The findings reveal external factors positively affect both attendance and team financials, but the relationship between a team’s offensive performance and team financials is fully mediated by attendance. The findings imply future sales growth may need to come from marketing strategies and promotional efforts beyond a team’s surrounding geographical area, and possibly through the adoption of new technology to reach their target market