Auggie wrote: ↑Sep 08, 2025
delmar2debaliviere2downtown wrote: ↑Sep 08, 2025
I do think the Cardinals fans intentionally not going are doing so a little early on in this middling era “to make their voice heard with money”. I also think the age group that fills the stands with their family grew up with a run of Cardinals season that spoiled them a bit and they got apathetic quickly when the team wasn’t going for a WS (it wasn’t part of their fandom experience to long and hope year after year which is a learned fandom). Downtown is certainly no worse than it was right before COVID as a place to spend time but the discourse is worse. 2020 protests and emptied out downtowns that gave way to more crime and some egregious things that got put in front of people on tv and social media. The “crime is up no matter what you say” and “cities especially downtowns are unsafe for families” is just a fact for many people. Roster management didn’t quite work out and there hasn’t been preseason hopes for a contender nor a complete surprise turnaround during the last couple seasons.
I lived in a few baseball cities and am not from St. Louis. Cardinals fans are the best fans in baseball in my opinion and they will continue to be. Not a single franchise hasn’t gone through some apathetic periods including the Yankees and Red Sox.
Keep improving the area around the ballpark for fans, get creative with the fan experience, do whatever you can to connect fans with the players you are going to have, be positive and grateful for the fans, show some signs of a plan/rebuild for a contender.
Lots of factors. I think the team the last couple years had honestly been fun and played way above the actual talent on the roster. Most predictors had the Cardinals winning less than 70 games and in last place in the central. They just didn’t have enough juice but the team really performed on the field better than expected.
Enjoy the weather, support downtown businesses and see the team before you’re sitting up waiting for opening day all winter. That’s what I say
I would put the Cubs, Giants, and Rockies fans above Cardinals fans at a minimum. Mariners fans also have to be up there for the 20 years of sh*t that they went through.
Cardinals fans just would not be able to go through a deep rebuild like other teams have gone through without having horrible attendance. I'm not saying the Cardinals don't have fans or even that they're fake or exceptionally bad, they just aren't exceptionally good like they think they are.
No, the Red Sox are the only fanbase that truly has an argument, and I could definitely go with that.
Cubs games are literally 60% tourists for much of the year and they went through their poor attendance years as well. Giants have not done it for decade after decade. They are consistent elly above average but not rabid and top of attendance every year. Rockies…just no. Mariners have a smaller but loyal fanbase but the Cardinals attendance this year is about what the Mariners can expect even when they are in contention.
Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Cubs, Braves, Dodgers, and Phillies are the top tier group of fanbases. Astros have built a strong one with success but we will have to see the next decade if it’s sustainable. The rest aren’t close to that group even if they do have some fans with some real deep loyalty like the Mets, Reds, etc. Every fanbase has some loyal fans, even the As had some fans that stood through all the crap they dealt with
And by the way, StL is the smallest market in that top tier of fanbases by a lot which definitely counts for something
I’ve said St. Louis should run with the bricks, beer, and baseball identity bc I think it does those 3 things best (which is why I wish the city connect would have done those 3 things). Yea, the local fans gotta still bring it if we want to be “the” baseball town
