Cards on pace to shed 1 million fans from ballpark and become one of the leanest run orgs.

[Bully4you]

I just checked the attendance and they are 17th at 29,465 avg. per game.
Just 3 years ago they drew 41,000 per game and were 2nd in attendance.
In addition to shedding 1 million fans, the organization will shed millions in payroll again in 2026.
They don't even need to trade anyone to do it.
By just allowing existing contracts to expire, they will be in the top 5-6 most leanly run organizations.
I anticipate attendance may further erode in 2026 as well, but not at such a drastic amount as seen this season.
So, is this a successful business model?
It may very well be.
Going from $170M in payroll a few years ago to say $100M in payroll in 2026 while only losing say 1.2M fans.

Check my work:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2022

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resour ... ns/payroll

[ramfandan]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

[Bully4you]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

A lot of truth to what you said.
The team will have to be smarter.
Don't see payroll being anywhere near the top market teams ever again.
They will need to be a Tampa Bay type franchise to compete.
Hard to do.
The past couple of seasons marks a transitional period for the franchise.
All of us fans won't like it, but it's the new reality.

[Othawhitemeat]

I do agree that we shoukd be smarter w player aquisitions such as Miles Mikolas, Dexter Fiwler, extending Matt Carpenter, Steven Matz, etc. and not trading Fedde/Hesley when could have gotten a haul. However, there is absolutely no reason we cant go after a stud or 2 to mix w youngsters. For example, Scherzer and small market Royals just paid near 300 mill for Bobby Witt. We have yet to spend over 160ish mill on a player in totality I believe. Dewitt is cheap my friends. Cardinals while small market literally has one of the most loyal fanbases. Partly, Dimwitt has no fire to win.

[AtillaTheBlue1]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

[nonsense]

[An Old Friend]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

[nonsense]

DeWitt allowed the brand to die and then his POBO and son effectively blamed fans for it. DeWitt prioritized loyalty to Mozeliak over just about everything else while Mozeliak took the franchise in the wrong direction for a decade+.

[ScotchMIrish]

Having games on TV is the best way to generate interest in the team. I wonder if charging providers a much lower fee so they can put it on their basic packages and make the games widely available again would be a good idea.

[Absolut]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

Per Google. St. Louis Metropolitan Area:
Overall Growth:
The St. Louis metropolitan area has seen overall population growth over the last half-century, despite the city's decline.
Recent Metro Area Population:
In 2023, the St. Louis metro area had a population of 2,811,927 according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Metro Area Growth:
The metro area's population has increased by almost 12 percent over the last half-century, according to FOX


The cards have historically drawn from more that just stl city and county. This isn’t about a bump or drop in stl population. This is about awful and clueless ownership and management.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

DeWitt allowed the brand to die and then his POBO and son effectively blamed fans for it. DeWitt prioritized loyalty to Mozeliak over just about everything else while Mozeliak took the franchise in the wrong direction for a decade+.

That's the worst part of it. I think Will Leitch used the term "smug mediocrity," and I think that's a perfect description.

They did have a lot of success for a long time. Even Mo. I like him a lot more than most, but along with the organization, he (upset) away a lot of that goodwill. We've not been very good for a decade and any suggestion that the FO get out of their comfort zone, and maybe spend a bit more money on a big free agent need or even an international free agent, is met with the FO acting like you're an idiot for suggesting that such a thing is possible.

And then blaming the fans for not showing up to games and using that as an excuse to skimp on payroll? That's insane. But they've basically been daring fans to stop showing up for the last how many years? Well, it finally happened, so I hope they're happy. I know people can't wait for BDWII to relinquish control of the team, but do we have confidence in III based on what we've seen and heard from him? We may be wishing we had II back.

Part of that smug mediocrity is why I think that they feel that it's okay to just drift through these last few years without doing anything one way or another to either strip the team down and rebuild or suck it up and spend money to add to it. They're confident that they can just be sort of okay and everything will be fine. We'll coast through the season, make a trade for a bench bat, reliever, maybe an okay starter, and hopefully get that last wildcard spot. Fans should get excited about that!!

And that smug mediocrity makes its way to the team too. No one seems to really take credit for being bad. It's always that they felt good except for a bad inning or two. They took good swings, just couldn't get it done. Well, you get so much of that and look where we are again.

And don't get me started with them killing independent businesses downtown with that cookie cutter monstrosity ballpark village. Another self inflicted wound.

[hdhntr148]

when you come off a couple seasons of mediocre results and then double-down and say your not really going to compete so you can see what you have. total recipe for fan apathy and boy are we.

went to one game this year and only because it's been my wife's fantasy to sit in green seats behind home plate which we did. I haven't been to one in several years as I follow on my phone and record every game but delete the ones they lose and then blow thru the Wins. Hey team quit caring years ago and so did many of us.

STL fans won't tolerate a loser and the franchise is now in a give a hot darn mode from ownership. just like back in the 70's, yeah I'm ancient, when they stopped competing we didn't show up till they brought whitey in and rebooted franchise.

Too many other things that entertain us on TV. Now that team is just one step above Pirates or Rockies why would we care? Heck I've turned down free seats to the games. truly a hassle to go all that way downtown.

[An Old Friend]

DeWitt allowed the brand to die and then his POBO and son effectively blamed fans for it. DeWitt prioritized loyalty to Mozeliak over just about everything else while Mozeliak took the franchise in the wrong direction for a decade+.

That's the worst part of it. I think Will Leitch used the term "smug mediocrity," and I think that's a perfect description.

They did have a lot of success for a long time. Even Mo. I like him a lot more than most, but along with the organization, he (upset) away a lot of that goodwill. We've not been very good for a decade and any suggestion that the FO get out of their comfort zone, and maybe spend a bit more money on a big free agent need or even an international free agent, is met with the FO acting like you're an idiot for suggesting that such a thing is possible.

And then blaming the fans for not showing up to games and using that as an excuse to skimp on payroll? That's insane. But they've basically been daring fans to stop showing up for the last how many years? Well, it finally happened, so I hope they're happy. I know people can't wait for BDWII to relinquish control of the team, but do we have confidence in III based on what we've seen and heard from him? We may be wishing we had II back.

Part of that smug mediocrity is why I think that they feel that it's okay to just drift through these last few years without doing anything one way or another to either strip the team down and rebuild or suck it up and spend money to add to it. They're confident that they can just be sort of okay and everything will be fine. We'll coast through the season, make a trade for a bench bat, reliever, maybe an okay starter, and hopefully get that last wildcard spot. Fans should get excited about that!!

And that smug mediocrity makes its way to the team too. No one seems to really take credit for being bad. It's always that they felt good except for a bad inning or two. They took good swings, just couldn't get it done. Well, you get so much of that and look where we are again.

And don't get me started with them killing independent businesses downtown with that cookie cutter monstrosity ballpark village. Another self inflicted wound.

I have no confidence in DeWitt III. Next gen are often bad at this but they get the job because of the womb they spawned from.

[OldRed]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

The current metro area population of St. Louis in 2025 is 2,256,000, a 0.62% increase from 2024.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2024 was 2,242,000, a 0.54% increase from 2023.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2023 was 2,230,000, a 0.41% increase from 2022.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2022 was 2,221,000, a 0.23% increase from 2021.

Also, many who attend Cardinal games drive close to 100 miles for games.

[Bully4you]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

The current metro area population of St. Louis in 2025 is 2,256,000, a 0.62% increase from 2024.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2024 was 2,242,000, a 0.54% increase from 2023.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2023 was 2,230,000, a 0.41% increase from 2022.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2022 was 2,221,000, a 0.23% increase from 2021.

Also, many who attend Cardinal games drive close to 100 miles for games.

The metro area sustained modest growth.
Yet the team lost nearly a third of their fans the past 3 years.
Not a great trend.
Also, it is very difficult to make uninterested people care again.

[icon]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

The current metro area population of St. Louis in 2025 is 2,256,000, a 0.62% increase from 2024.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2024 was 2,242,000, a 0.54% increase from 2023.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2023 was 2,230,000, a 0.41% increase from 2022.
The metro area population of St. Louis in 2022 was 2,221,000, a 0.23% increase from 2021.

Also, many who attend Cardinal games drive close to 100 miles for games.

Exactly. Cardinal Nation is real, and it doesn't just depend on the St Louis area for fans. They come from all over the place. When are people going to get this through their thick heads?

[Banner29]

In the size market St. Louis is ( St. Louis declining population ) , acquiring pricey free agents will be limited. They go to the big revenue teams.
One thing that the organzation can do (and they are starting with Bloom/Cerfolio this past year ) is to beef up their player development side and technology end ( labs, anayltics , scouting , etc. ). Getting improved players from within may be a key . Unless a 'salary cap' is instituted thru the new CBA, the Cardinals will remain in the 'have nots' category.

[nonsense]

DeWitt allowed the brand to die and then his POBO and son effectively blamed fans for it. DeWitt prioritized loyalty to Mozeliak over just about everything else while Mozeliak took the franchise in the wrong direction for a decade+.

Makes you wonder what really went on behind hackgate. It’s hard for me to believe that a longtime successful businessman such as Dewitt couldn’t see for a mile away what Mo was steamrolling this ridiculously proud and envied organization to complete irrelevance. Unless him and his son just got as caught up in their egos as Mo has been you have to wonder if they kept Mo around because they had no other choice in the matter

[mattmitchl44]

Not surprising.

When Atlanta did their deep rebuild, their attendance dropped by 500,000. Houston's dropped by over 1 million. Philadelphia's dropped by over 1.5 million.

And they all bounced back.

The important part will be at the end of the rebuild. Once they have a sufficient core of young players to build around again, they will probably need to loosen the purse strings in advance of attendance rebounding by maybe 1 season.