Record-low attendance signals Cardinals fans have had enough of mediocrity

Empty seats are expected in professional sports. Spectators don't want to see losing clubs or spend time in old, uninviting stadiums. But empty seats in Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals?

Before this year, it was virtually unheard of, but times have changed. Last Wednesday, the club reported a single-game attendance figure of 29,580, marking the first non-pandemic-restricted Cardinals game in Busch Stadium III history that drew fewer than 30,000 in paid attendance.

Since then, three more games have been below 30,000. The Cardinals are not an awful team, but they are mediocre. At 66-67 going into Thursday, they are 10.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central Division and seven out of the last wild-card spot. There's no reason to believe the club will make a late-season push to the playoffs.

St. Louis finished 71-91 last season and has not been past the wild-card round of the playoffs since 2019. When Mike Matheny was let go as manager in 2018 following two straight seasons of missing the playoffs and a 47-46 start to the 2018 campaign, owner Bill DeWitt Jr. clarified the organization's expectations.

“In some places, winning is just a winning record, or even .500 is acceptable. Players have a nice season, go home, get back to their families, and so forth. But not in this city, not with this franchise, not with its history, and not with our great fans," said DeWitt in a press conference following Matheny's firing.

That stance is now being called into question, and fans have made their expectations just as clear: the product on the field isn't good enough, so they're not showing up. In many other cities, fewer than 30,000 fans wouldn't be much of a story, but these are the so-called "best fans in baseball" making a strong statement.

Excluding pandemic-restricted seasons, the Cardinals have reached 3 million in total attendance each of the past 18 seasons. With 14 home games remaining, the club is nearly 600,000 fans away from that number. Another significant streak will end.

What changes will the Cardinals front office be willing to make this offseason? The franchise hasn't been keen to sign big-name free agents, opting for homegrown talent or 30-something-year-olds past their prime. The problem with their homegrown talent is that they've been unable to develop it. Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman haven't progressed as expected, and the same could be said for many players over the past decade.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak and manager Oliver Marmol aren't popular with fans, but both are under contract for 2025.

In their current state, the Cardinals have given fans little reason to turn out to the ballpark. There's still a sea of red in the stadium, but it's not fans decked out in their favorite Cardinal gear. It's a bunch of empty seats — a sight never seen at Busch Stadium III.