Savannah Bananas attendance shows Cardinals that fans are dormant, not forever lost

The Savannah Bananas have become a national spectacle, a show unlike any other in all of sports. They sell out every stadium they go to around the country and have recaptured the imagination of Americans who have typically checked out of anything happening on a baseball diamond.

So it comes as no surprise that when the Bananas rolled into Busch Stadium this weekend, well, the city went bananas for them.

The St. Louis Cardinals have not received that kind of fanfare in quite some time. Sold-out games and roaring crowds used to be a frequent occurrence at Busch Stadium, but ever since 2022, things have been trending in the wrong direction.

Yes, the Bananas draw these kinds of crowds wherever they may go, but the ownership cannot look at their empty seats at home games in 2025 and not see a major disconnect between the product they are selling and the fanbase that has grown more and more frustrated by not just the lack of performance, but by the messaging surrounding it.

The Savannah Bananas draw a packed Busch Stadium while the Cardinals see record-low attendance.

The numbers back it up. From 2013-2017, the Cardinals ranked second in attendance every year, just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. From 2001-2024, the Cardinals ranked top ten in attendance every year, and most of those campaigns fell in the top five. But ever since 2022, that attendance has been in decline, with a massive drop-off happening before our eyes this year.

2022 - 2nd, average attendance 40,994
2023 - 4th, average attendance 40,013
2024 - 7th, average attendance 35,872
2025 - 17th, average attendance 29,465

Even as interest in baseball has faded nationally over the last two decades, St. Louis has remained steadfast in their support of the Cardinals...until now. For a while, ownership could look at the disdain for their product online and chalk it up to a vocal minority. But with crowds dwindling as much as they have, it's hard for ownership to ignore the damage they have done to the fanbase's relationship with the team.

Change is already coming in the form of Chaim Bloom and his new staff, but the ownership is going to have to make up for past mistakes and prove to this city that the Cardinals are worth their time and dollars. The fanbase certainly did not force ownership to avoid this transition of power as long as they have, and they aren't the ones who have made poor transactions, botched the development of top prospects, or failed to go the extra mile in terms of spending.

If ownership is jaded by the empty seats and uses it as an excuse to lower their investment, this may become a cycle that results in a bleak future for the city's beloved sport.

This weekend's crowds for the Bananas and the enthusiasm that fans had for a different baseball team is about as jarring a scene as one can have with the state of baseball in St. Louis. Had this happened in any other year for the last two decades, it would have just been seen as the city showing up for an awesome event, but not an indictment on the state of the Cardinals franchise.

The worst thing ownership can do in response to this weekend is look at the crowds and think to themselves, "Oh, well that's just because it's the Savannah Bananas." Well, you're supposed to be the St. Louis Cardinals, the club that drew similar excitement from the city for decades and reaped the benefits of that support.

There's not much they can do to salvage their attendance for 2025, but they can make some tough decisions at the trade deadline by selling and then setting up Chaim Bloom for success this offseason in hopes of bringing life back to the stadium soon. Let's hope these last three years have been a wake-up call for ownership, because if not, it may take exhibition baseball games to pack Busch Stadium once again.