On Monday night, following a walk-off bomb from surging left fielder Alec Burleson in last night’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that only 17,675 fans attended the game. The empty red seats made what should have been a cheer that broke the sound barrier, was instead a half-hearted hurrah. The comeback victory exhibited all the moments that fans flock to the ballpark to see, yet yielded the lowest recorded attendance in Busch Stadium III’s history since its debut in 2006.
Following their walk-off victory against the 5th place Pirates, the Cardinals enter play today with a 65-67 record and 17 GBs out from the 1st place Milwaukee Brewers, who have done nothing but figure out new ways to extend the gap between trailing NL Central teams. The Cardinals have serious work to do if they hope to sneak into the second wildcard spot (5.5 GBs), but it seems that fans have raised the white flag to The Dewitt’s and the Cardinal front office, making their feelings evident through the drastic drop in attendance numbers.
The lacking attendance has plummeted from the dip from the 2024 season. Since 2012 (exempting 2020-21 due to Covid restrictions), St. louis finished each season with an average attendance of 40,000 plus fans per game, until 2024, where they scrapped together only 35, 532 fans. In 2025 they are averaging 28,660 fans per game in Busch Stadium III, and it is expected to drop further as football season is nearly underway.
Are the “best fans in baseball” losing interest in the Cardinals due to protesting the front office, or are they simply gut-punched from what is shaping up to be the third season in a row without a Cardinal playoff appearance? Is it both? Could two decades of mostly successful campaigns be spoiling the fanbase from the rarity of struggle and frustration? Is the lack of success so foreign to fans that they are exposing a lack of loyalty?
The attitude from the fanbase doesn’t seem to be directed toward the young Cardinal players (although still given their share of the blame) as much as it is toward the front office and the seemingly indifferent owners of the franchise, the Dewitt’s. In a controversial end-of-season press conference in 2024, the fans were promised everything that described a rebuild, without it being named a rebuild. This was to avoid verbally admitting that the franchise was taking the 2025 season to rebuild without suggesting a lack of competitivity. This year, every move in the trade deadline centered around restocking and reinforcing their farm system, and the majority of the St. Louis lineup are fresh young players given the whole year to display what they can do, like Walker, Winn, Scott II, and Burleson. Fans take this as the front office failing to be be honest with the fanbase, all while doing so in a way that lacks direction, identity, and conviction. Yes, fans like winning. But fans also like a front office who’s honest with them. Is this the kind of distrust that launched the downfall of the Oakland Athletics saga, or is ignorance bliss?
It’s a heartbreaking thing to see. When Burleson’s golf swing homer ducked over the center field wall in last night’s win, there were only a couple of fans in the section, so the fight to get the ball was underwhelming. One thing is certain. The St. Louis Cardinals are stepping foot into a new era with exciting young players, but it makes you wonder how many will be there in the stands to see it.
The Cardinals play game two of the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight at 7:45 P.M. E.T.
I'm a writer trying to make his mark in the baseball journalism world. I graduated with a journalism degree from Union University where I pitched four years of D2 baseball.
