Winning Back Attendance: Effects of Winning Performance, Online Search, and the MLB Rule Changes for More Dynamic Games

Abstract

As Major League Baseball (MLB)’s continuous decline in popularity has caused its game attendance to drop gradually, the league makes a desperate attempt such as game rule changes to remain relevant. Along with the introduction of new rules to make games more dynamic such as the pitch clock, bigger bases, and defensive shift limitations, it is important for MLB franchises to understand drivers for game attendance. We focus on the effect of accumulated winning performance of the two teams on game attendance, one of the key drivers of game attendance, and investigate how it is influenced by consumer and industry factors such as online search and game rule changes. We find that game attendance increases as the prior winning performance of the home (away) team increases (decreases). We also find that online search and rule changes for more dynamic games moderate the effect of winning performance on game attendance.