5 questions Chaim Bloom must answer in his first offseason running the Cardinals

Question #5: What can Chaim Bloom do to bring back fans?

This is the million-dollar question, literally. Ticket sales and in-game attendance have plummeted the last three years for the Cardinals. After being a perennial 3 million-fan organization for nearly two decades, the Cardinals slipped below that threshold in 2024 and fell way short in 2025.

The Cardinals sold 2,250,007 tickets this year, 19th most in baseball. They averaged only 27,777 tickets sold per game. Those figures are stark for a franchise that drew 35,000+ fans on a day game during the week just three years ago. The fans actually in attendance was far lower than those figures as well, leading to several days where the total number of fans in Busch Stadium hovered around 15,000 people.

Fan apathy and frustration are at all-time high levels, and the road back to a full Busch Stadium feels long and arduous. The empty seats, lowering ticket sales, and outward frustration by fans have been seen by several other organizations who also once saw the St. Louis Cardinals as a premier organization in baseball.

Bringing back fans isn't entirely on Chaim Bloom; senior vice president of baseball operations Anuk Karunaratne has been working behind the scenes on ways to enhance the fan experience. From $5 Friday nights to post-game concerts, Karunaratne has been busy finding ways to attract fans, particularly ones in the 20-34 age range.

The departure of John Mozeliak alone may be enough to bring back a few wayward fans, but I don't believe it'll boost numbers dramatically. Ousting Oli Marmol may have a similar microscopic impact, but I'm skeptical that thousands of fans are staying away because of who runs and who manages the ballclub.

Instead, Bloom will have to get creative to win fans back. The best way to do that would be to field a winning team with realistic playoff aspirations each year.

A willingness to be transparent by Bloom will also attract several fans who grew weary of John Mozeliak's political and veiled responses to questions.

Chaim Bloom won't bring back 750,000 fans in his first season as president of baseball operations. He's likely looking at a multi-year path back to attendance supremacy in St. Louis. So long as he's working meticulously and trying to improve the team top to bottom, fans will return little by little. Just like the old adage says, winning fixes everything.