This article walks through a practical, data-first approach to deciding which MLB team has the best fan attendance using the most authoritative 2025 season sources. It focuses on three reproducible metrics, explains where to get the numbers, and shows how to combine them so readers can publish their own transparent rankings. If you reached this page via searches that look like betting queries such as al east odds, note that attendance analysis is an informational exercise about crowd behavior and stadium demand, which is different from betting odds or forecasts. The guidance here helps analysts and fans compare teams on measurable support rather than predicting game outcomes.

ESPN's 2025 attendance table provides totals, average per home game, and a percent-of-capacity column suitable for direct rankings.

Baseball-Reference offers box-score aggregated totals for cross-validation and reproducibility.

Percent-of-capacity, using a reliable stadium capacity list, reveals venue fill rates that raw totals can hide.

What we mean by "best" fan attendance: definition and scope

Why 'best' needs a definition

When readers ask which club has the best attendance, they might mean several different things. Do they want the biggest raw crowds, the most consistent full houses relative to stadium size, or the largest aggregate season total? Clarifying whether "best" refers to average home attendance per game, total season attendance, or percent-of-capacity matters because each metric answers a different question about fan engagement and market behavior. For sourceable season numbers and a standard percent-of-capacity column you can rely on ESPN's attendance tables for the 2025 season.

Average home attendance measures the typical crowd a club draws each game and is useful when comparing game-to-game exposure. Total season attendance sums all home-game gates and emphasizes sheer volume across a season. Percent-of-capacity controls for stadium size by expressing average attendance as a share of the stated seating capacity, which requires a reliable stadium capacity list to compute accurately.

How average, total, and percent-of-capacity differ

Average home attendance equals total home attendance divided by the number of home games and is the most intuitive single-game indicator. Total season attendance favors teams with larger stadiums or more sellouts and can be skewed by postseason or neutral-site events when not excluded. Percent-of-capacity shows how full a park typically is, which can reveal small-market clubs with passionate, near-sellout crowds even when raw totals are lower; stadium capacity figures for current MLB parks provide the denominator for that calculation.

Which MLB team truly has the best fan attendance in a reproducible, source-backed way?

Use ESPN's season attendance table for 2025 as the primary ranked source, cross-check totals with Baseball-Reference, compute percent-of-capacity using a consolidated stadium capacity list, and apply a transparent weighting and multi-year smoothing to identify durable leaders.

Quick snapshot: what the authoritative 2025 sources provide

What ESPN's attendance pages include

For 2025, ESPN publishes a team-by-team attendance report that lists season totals, average attendance per home game, and a percent-of-capacity column; those fields let analysts rank teams directly by average or total and view fill rates without extra computation, making ESPN a practical primary table to extract for single-season comparisons ESPN attendance pages.

What Baseball-Reference's misc pages include

Baseball-Reference provides aggregated box-score attendance totals and per-game averages for each season, offering an independent cross-check against ESPN's numbers; using Baseball-Reference alongside ESPN helps catch timing differences or aggregation mismatches when assembling a reproducible ranking Baseball-Reference season miscellaneous page.

Data sources, reliability, and reproducible methodology

Primary data sources and their update cadence

For a reproducible 2025 ranking, treat ESPN's 2025 attendance report as the primary ranked table and use Baseball-Reference's 2025 miscellaneous page as the cross-check; this pairing combines ESPN's ready-made percent-of-capacity with Baseball-Reference's box-score aggregation for validation purposes ESPN attendance pages ESPN attendance index.

Official stadium capacity listings are relatively stable but can change after renovations, so gather the consolidated capacity list when you compute percent-of-capacity and note any park-specific updates during your retrieval date to avoid miscalculations.

Reproduce the 2025 attendance tables and appendix

Download the ESPN attendance CSV and the Baseball-Reference cross-check, then save the stadium capacity table in the appendix so you can reproduce the calculations exactly.

Open the data appendix and CSVs

How to reconcile differences between sources

Small differences between ESPN and Baseball-Reference often arise from timing, box-score roundings, or exclusion of postseason and neutral-site games; reconcile by documenting which rows you pulled, the retrieval date, and whether you limited counts to regular-season home games before publishing your ranking Baseball-Reference season miscellaneous page.

How to compute the three ranking views: average, total, and percent-of-capacity

Formulae and worked examples the writer must fill with source numbers

Minimalist full frame infographic showing three attendance metrics average attendance total attendance percent of capacity with simple icons on Funded Plays dark background al east odds

Compute average per game as total home attendance divided by the number of home games. Compute percent-of-capacity as average attendance divided by the listed stadium capacity. For reproducibility, extract the exact total and home games columns from ESPN's table and apply these formulae in your sheet or script when preparing the single-season ranking ESPN attendance pages.

Special cases matter. Use the official box-score attendance for doubleheaders rather than splitting ticket counts. Exclude postponed or canceled games from both the numerator and denominator. Exclude neutral-site and international games from home totals unless you state otherwise in your methodology note.

Why stadium capacity matters and how to use percent-of-capacity

Where to get reliable capacity numbers

To compute percent-of-capacity, use a consolidated list of current MLB ballparks with stated capacities and renovation notes so you can match each team's average attendance to the correct denominator; cross-check capacities for any parks that had seating changes near 2025 to avoid overstating fill rates List of current Major League Baseball stadiums.

Funded Plays Challenges

Open the data appendix and CSVs

When percent-of-capacity gives a different view than absolute totals

Percent-of-capacity often elevates small- or mid-market teams that pack a smaller park into a more favorable light, showing high local engagement even when total gates lag big-market clubs. Use percent-of-capacity to give venue planners and marketers a clearer picture of demand relative to supply.

Common pitfalls and biases when comparing team attendance

Single-season spikes and promotional impact

Promotional giveaways, special-theme nights, and short-term sellout streaks can create single-season spikes that misrepresent long-term fan support; Ballpark Digest's season reviews document how promotions and market events shaped 2024 trends and are a useful qualitative complement when you see an unexplained jump in one team's 2025 numbers Ballpark Digest attendance analysis.

Also flag neutral-site, postseason, and international events because they can inflate totals if mixed with regular-season counts; for clarity, limit a regular-season ranking to regular-season home games only and footnote any exceptions.

Multi-year comparisons: how to spot durable attendance strength

Choosing the right multi-year window

Use at least a three-year rolling window where possible to distinguish structural fan support from volatility caused by promotions, winning streaks, or singular events. Averaging the per-game averages across three seasons smooths single-year noise and gives a clearer view of durable strength when constructing a stability metric ESPN attendance pages.

compute a three-year rolling average of per-game attendance

leave empty seasons blank and average available years only

Smoothing techniques and trend checks

Simple smoothing can be a straight arithmetic mean over your chosen window or a weighted average that discounts older seasons; document whichever approach you use and show the three-season input table so readers can reproduce the trend checks. Cross-validate your multi-year series with the Baseball-Reference season pages to ensure you pulled the correct per-game averages Baseball-Reference season miscellaneous page.

How to weigh average, total, and percent-of-capacity for your purpose

Scoring or weighting schemes to combine metrics

There is no single correct weighting. A transparent sample scheme for an illustrative ranking is 40 percent weight to average home attendance, 40 percent to percent-of-capacity, and 20 percent to multi-year stability. That template balances per-game reach with venue fill rates and durability; always label the weights and explain why you chose them in your methodology note ESPN attendance pages.

For media stories that emphasize scale, totals may dominate; for venue planning or market analysis, percent-of-capacity and stability deserve higher weights. Whatever you choose, provide the raw columns and a reproducible formula in your appendix so readers can see how the final score was derived.

Market factors that drive attendance differences

Population and metropolitan area size

Market size, competing entertainment options, and regional population influence baseline attendance expectations. Larger metros typically yield higher raw totals, but percent-of-capacity can reveal when a smaller market overperforms relative to its stadium size. When publishing rankings, annotate teams with market context so readers understand why small-market clubs may show high fill rates despite lower totals Ballpark Digest attendance analysis.

On-field performance and team history

Winning, long-term traditions, and recent playoff runs shift attendance expectations and can produce durable or transient boosts. Use multi-year stability metrics to reduce the weight of a single successful season when judging which team truly has the best sustained fan attendance.

Typical errors to avoid when publishing an attendance ranking

Mixing postseason and regular-season numbers

Do not mix postseason attendance with regular-season counts when ranking regular-season attendance; explicitly state season coverage in your methodology note and exclude postseason gates unless you run a separate postseason-inclusive ranking ESPN attendance pages.

Ignoring stadium renovations or capacity changes

Flag temporary seating additions, renovations, or capacity changes and either exclude affected seasons or footnote them. Cross-check the stadium capacity list for any parks that listed renovations near 2025 to avoid overstating percent-of-capacity.

Practical examples and scenarios the writer should develop

Example 1: ranking by average attendance with percent-of-capacity column

Prepare a compact single-season table with columns: team, average attendance, total attendance, stadium capacity, and percent-of-capacity. Pull average and total directly from ESPN's 2025 table, match each team to the stadium capacity, compute percent-of-capacity, then add a short caption that interprets whether high totals reflect stadium size or exceptional demand ESPN attendance pages. For additional methodology notes see the Funded Plays blog.

In the caption, note any promotional or market events that Ballpark Digest highlighted for 2024 or 2025 that help explain anomalies so readers do not over-interpret single-season peaks.

Example 2: multi-year stability ranking

Create a three-year table showing per-game averages for the last three complete seasons, compute a three-year average or weighted average, and present a stability column alongside percent-of-capacity. Use Baseball-Reference season pages to cross-check each season's per-game average before computing the multi-year series Baseball-Reference season miscellaneous page.

Include a short interpretive line under the table that flags whether a team's apparent strength is consistent or driven by one standout year, and reference the stadium capacity list when percent calculations are borderline due to renovations.

A reproducible checklist: how to decide which team 'has the best attendance' for your purpose

Checklist items to run before publishing

State your chosen metric or weighting, cite ESPN and Baseball-Reference as data sources with retrieval dates, list the stadium capacity source, and confirm you limited counts to regular-season home games. Export the ESPN attendance table as CSV, save the Baseball-Reference cross-check, and keep the capacity list in your appendix for transparency Baseball-Reference season miscellaneous page.

Write a short methodology note explaining any smoothing, weighting, or exclusions, and include a simple calculation script or sheet with formulas so others can reproduce your ranking exactly. See a methodological example in this methodology note.

Minimalist 2D vector side by side comparison of a single season table and a three year rolling average for one team highlighted in pale yellow accent al east odds

What to include in the article appendix and data links for transparency

Required appendix items

Include the raw ESPN CSV export, the Baseball-Reference cross-check table, the stadium capacity table, and any calculation scripts or spreadsheet formulas you used. Label each data link with the source and retrieval date so readers can verify the snapshots you used to compute rankings.

How to format data links and table sources

In the appendix, present each data link with the source name and retrieval date. For example: "ESPN attendance table, retrieved 2026-06-15." Do not include product or promotional links outside the designated marker.

Conclusion and next steps for readers who want to explore further

Summary takeaways

Combining ESPN's season table, Baseball-Reference cross-checks, and a reliable stadium capacity list creates a robust and reproducible framework for deciding which team has the best fan attendance for a chosen metric. Percent-of-capacity adds essential context to raw totals, and multi-year smoothing reduces the risk of overvaluing single-season spikes ESPN attendance pages. For broader media coverage see Yahoo Sports, and visit Funded Plays for related resources.

How to keep the ranking updated in future seasons

To update the ranking for future seasons, repeat the same workflow: pull the new ESPN season table, cross-check with Baseball-Reference, re-apply stadium capacity checks for any renovations, and rerun your weighting and smoothing scripts. Explicitly document retrieval dates and any capacity changes to keep the ranking reproducible and transparent.

How do ESPN and Baseball-Reference differ for attendance data?

ESPN provides tables with totals, per-game averages, and a percent-of-capacity column ready for ranking; Baseball-Reference aggregates box-score attendance and serves as an independent cross-check.

Should I include postseason games when ranking regular-season attendance?

No, exclude postseason and neutral-site games when your goal is a regular-season home attendance ranking and state that exclusion in your methodology note.

Where should I get stadium capacity figures for percent-of-capacity?

Use a consolidated list of current MLB ballparks with stated capacities and renovation notes, and cross-check any parks with recent seating changes.

Use the reproducible checklist and the appendix to make your attendance ranking transparent and verifiable. Repeat the same workflow each season and document retrieval dates so readers can compare apples to apples when you update the list. Attendance shows fan engagement but should not be interpreted as a direct proxy for financial health or on-field success without additional financial and competitive data.