The St. Louis Cardinals have had a disappointing 2025 season. They moved on from some of their expiring assets, but they didn’t fully unload their talent at the trade deadline.
With Chaim Bloom taking over as president of baseball operations at the end of the season and John Mozeliak resigning, it was always going to be a transitional year.
However, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale detailed, the Cardinals have experienced the unfavorable consequences of such a transition year. It was in the stands, not on the field.
St. Louis Isn’t Bringing in Stellar Attendance Numbers
The Cardinals are currently 64-66 with one week left in August, 17 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and 5.5 games behind the third and final wild card place.
There hasn’t been much intriguing new talent brought up to the Majors this season, Ryan Helsley was traded, and Nolan Arenado is injured. The atmosphere created by all of these elements has prevented many Cardinals supporters from attending home games.
“Meanwhile, in St. Louis,” writes Nightengale, “the Cardinals are averaging 28,828 fans a game, the lowest for a full season since 1984.”
St. Louis is no longer as appealing as it was a short time ago. Albert Pujols returned to the squad in 2022 after becoming a legend and hitting his 700th home run.
However, the team has changed in the years afterward. Before Bloom took control, the Cardinals lacked the impetus to make any significant decisions this season due to Mozeliak’s resignation in a transition year.
The squad was competitive under Oli Marmol throughout the first half of the season, but after a difficult July and August, they are no longer in the running for a division and are not in a position to qualify for the postseason as a wild-card team.
The poor attendance statistics are hardly surprising given the team’s frequent changes in front office executives and the general dearth of intriguing opportunities in the future.
What is noteworthy is that St. Louis hasn’t had such low attendance in more than 40 years. The Cardinals have had a dismal season, and their reduced attendance figures show that they haven’t played at their best.
Under Bloom’s direction, the Cardinals will try to get back together in 2026 after a difficult 2025 campaign both on the field and in the stands.
