10 burning questions the Cardinals must answer if they want to win back their fans

Question #10 - Will the changes that the St. Louis Cardinals make actually bring fans back to the ballpark?

The announced paid attendance from Tuesday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers was 30,022, the smallest crowd in the history of Busch Stadium III (not including when there were COVID-19-related restrictions on attendance).

Fans have shown ownership how they feel about this team, and I imagine it will only get worse as the season goes along and the Cardinals continue to fade in the playoff race. This is now two seasons in a row where you can write the Cardinals off as a playoff team by mid-August, and that is not going to fly in the city of St. Louis.

The Athletics' Katie Woo was on the Foul Territory this week, and she reiterated what we've been hearing around the club for some time now - ownership probably won't spend more to win fans back, and instead will likely scale back due to "losses in revenue".

If the Cardinals do not make drastic changes to the organization this offseason, I do not anticipate fans returning to the stands in 2025. It will take major changes coupled with winning baseball to draw fans back to the ballpark, and I'm not sure if Bill DeWitt Jr. is prepared to do what it will take to get fans' attention.

Frankly, the Cardinals are on the verge of a snowball effect that may take many years to undo if they don't prove to fans they are serious about changing their ways. St. Louis is a baseball town, and in a world that is increasingly losing interest in the sport, they have been the rare exception that has continued to lean into their hometown team.

And yet, with the cord-cutting that has been happening over the last decade and the increased difficulty of trying to find a game on TV, Cardinals fans already have plenty of reasons not to care about this team. Add in the fact that the team is bad and fans do not believe in the front office or coaching staff, and you have a recipe for continued losses on your hands.

Many fans remember DeWitt's comments back in 2018 when they fired manager Mike Matheny. DeWitt Jr. infamously stated that the Cardinals' organization is not content with just a winning record. Well, look how far they have fallen.

I honestly don't know what fan reception will be like next year, but if the DeWitt family is serious about their desire to win, they'll move heaven and earth this offseason to make things right.