Having the Worst Team in Franchise History Did Little to Hurt Angels' Attendance

Eva Geitheim | Sep 30, 2024

Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels lost the best player in MLB and posted the worst record in franchise history over the last year, but surprisingly didn't take a huge hit to their home attendance during the 2024 season. The Angels saw a total of 2,577,597 fans come into Angel Stadium, an average of 31,822 people per game. This ranks 13th in MLB, and about just 60,000 less than they saw a season ago. Angel Stadium also had the 13th-best attendance in MLB in 2023, per ESPN.

The Angels finished the season 63-99, coming just one loss short of recording 100 losses on the season. They lost their last six games of the season, including a sweep by the 41-121 Chicago White Sox, to finish with their worst record in team history. The Angels have not been considered good in a while, and yet they finished with fewer than 70 wins (outside of the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season) for the first time since 1994.

Los Angeles went just 32-49 in front of the home crowd, yet still pulled in significantly more fans than winning teams like the Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Royals.

Angels fans continued to show up to Angel Stadium, even after the team lost star two-way player and two-time American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to free agency. Ohtani naturally draws a large crowd as one of the most popular players in the sport, so it was impressive to see the Angels still put up high attendance numbers after he left.

Along with the loss of Ohtani, the Angels were also without star center fielder Mike Trout for much of the season. The three-time AL MVP is another player fans would want to come watch, but he suffered a torn meniscus at the end of April, limiting him to a career-low 29 games.

It's also impressive that the Angels are bringing in so many fans considering the team has not been good in a decade. The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014, and finished with fewer than 80 wins for the sixth straight season.

They do have some talented young players in Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto among others, but not enough to earn consistent wins or overcome their lack of pitching success.