Even though Milwaukee is the smallest market in Major League Baseball, the Brewers regularly draw large crowds.

In each of their competitive seasons—2017, 2018, 2019, and even 2021, when COVID-19 meddled with ballpark capacities for the first half of the year—they have ranked 10th or above in terms of MLB attendance.

However, there will be a lot more forest green than usual if you look across the seating bowl at games this year.

The Brewers were ranked 14th in MLB as of Wednesday, drawing 30,359 spectators per game, down 14% and 15.9% from 2018 and 2019 (the final seasons with “normal” attendance rules throughout the year). The former is the ninth-largest decline in MLB, outpacing most teams that have maintained a comparable level of competitiveness during that time period.

Major League Baseball has had a drop in attendance every year from 2015 to 2019 and is currently recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, 5.2% fewer people entered the gates than in 2019 and 6.7% less than in 2018.

Why then does Milwaukee have it harder than most MLB teams?

Milwaukee would typically be on the verge of three weekend sellouts with the Chicago Cubs coming to town for a three-game series and Milwaukee still in the running for the playoffs. However, 2022 is unique.

More: These five explanations recurred when we asked readers why they attended fewer Brewers games.

The Brewers would still rank in the top half of baseball with the current prediction between 2.5 million and 2.6 million spectators, according to Brewers president Rick Schlesinger.

“Any comparison to our 2019 season, where we drew more than 2.9 million fans (after finishing in 2018), one game short of reaching the World Series, will unavoidably fall short given the disruptions to our business caused by the pandemic, restricted attendance, and a delayed start to the 2022 season,” the team said.

It seems a little unjust to set the initial threshold at the fourth-highest attendance in team history, which was the 2019 season. Why, then, would Milwaukee experience greater decreases than other cities?

Is the cost of a Brewers game too expensive?

When evaluating a club’s loss in attendance, observers may immediately point to low-hanging fruit: Either the team isn’t as entertaining to follow or the ticket prices have increased.

Let’s put off the inevitable criticism of the Brewers’ current slump as a crowd-control measure for the time being. The Brewers have maintained 8–12 games above.500 for the majority of the year, and despite not dominating the division like they did in 2021 or yet taking part in the high-stakes thrill rides that were the Septembers of 2018 and 2019, they continue to be one of seven legitimate playoff contenders competing for six National League playoff spots.

Milwaukee’s median ticket and parking rates would rank 11th-cheapest in baseball, behind the Royals, Angels, Reds, Phillies, Marlins, Tigers, Orioles, Rockies, Twins, and Cardinals, even though costs for any big-league ballpark experience are debatably too costly for the ordinary family.

With tickets and parking, the average price for a family of four is $163.60. There is a broad variety across MLB, with the Red Sox at the top ($346) and the Royals at the bottom ($113).

A family of four could theoretically go to the majority of Brewers games on Sunday for as little as $39 plus expenses, including $6 tickets to Bernie’s Terrace and $15 for public parking that must be paid in advance.

Although American Family Field permits patrons to bring in unopened non-alcoholic beverages and small food items, the cost of concessions at the venue is expensive.

The lowest available price for a beer at AmFam ($9) was more expensive than all but seven other MLB stadiums, a soda ($6) was more expensive than all but six other stadiums, and a hot dog ($6.75) was more expensive than all but three other locations, according to data gathered by Chris Hartweg of the independent website Team Marketing Report based in Chicago.

However, according to ESPN’s research, the Brewers are among the 10 to 12 most reasonably priced teams for domestic light beer, soda, and water.

The typical fan might not notice one significant component in particular.

Another thing that most fans don’t notice was mentioned by Schlesinger.

Group sales are “one important factor that distinguishes us from other markets,” he said. “We would typically sell about 600,000 group tickets every year. We’ll reach our destination this year at about 400,000. Our attendance ranking in baseball would be somewhere around 10th if we were having an average year for group sales, which is consistent with a typical season for us.

The Brewers have had more success with group sales than any other baseball team, in part because of the retractable roof’s assurance that events will proceed as planned. The majority of firms aren’t looking for group outings, though, as most remain run remotely or in a hybrid fashion.

Additionally, some businesses are still hesitant about planning groups to attend events with a lot of attendees, according to Schlesinger. “The good news is that these tendencies are changing. Large-capacity venues are increasingly more welcoming to fans, and even organizations that still employ remote workers are placing an even greater priority on bringing their staff together for social trips.

The baseball labor issue delayed the start of the 2022 season, which impacted the ticket office and delayed the commencement of individual ticket sales, according to Schlesinger. Season-ticket packages and individual sales, however, are still strong. One of the 11 clubs planned to begin the season with multiple home series were the Brewers, who were scheduled to play six home games to open the campaign (all of which have since been moved elsewhere on the schedule).

Did the pandemic affect niche sports markets more severely?

Despite being in first position in the American League Central, Cleveland has only averaged 17,191 spectators per game this season. With 22,590, Minnesota is the team closely following Cleveland. Given that both have open-air stadiums, attendance may vary more than in Milwaukee due to the erratic spring weather. Their losses surpass those of Milwaukee.

Despite the fact that this year’s squad is just marginally below the winning rate that the teams from 2018 and 2019 experienced, Cleveland has lost 21.9% of supporters compared to 2019 and a startling 29% of fans compared to 2018.

Minnesota’s fall of 20.2% (only 8%) from the previous year, despite the fact that the 2019 squad won 101 games and undoubtedly drew well as a result. The 2018 squad came in under.500.

The average is outperformed by other “small” areas like Arizona (down 25.2% from 2019), Cincinnati (17.8%), Kansas City (12.5%), and Pittsburgh (11.7%), but this isn’t always the case. Baltimore and Detroit have gained fans compared to 2019 (albeit both drew poorly that season as the two poorest teams in baseball and both are down compared to 2018), while Tampa Bay (5.3%) hasn’t decreased as quickly despite dealing with less overall total numbers of spectators.

With a 54% fan decline from 2018 to 2019, Oakland has had the biggest fan decline, well outpacing Arizona, which has experienced the second-worst decline.

The Cubs play poorly. That ought to be advantageous, right?

Even if the Cubs’ attendance hasn’t had a big impact on Milwaukee’s top-10 attendance ranking, it wouldn’t be unusual for Cubs fans to take some of the credit for the Brewers’ strong attendance performance. Trust us—we looked it up.

But even while Brewers supporters are cheering on Chicago’s poor season, the Cubs’ absence from the National League Central standings this year hurts sales of tickets. The average attendance for the Brewers’ six games versus Chicago at American Family Field has been 34,450, which is among the top numbers of the year but not quite the bonanza they have been in past seasons.

The average attendance at Cubs games in 2019—a year in which Chicago was a winning baseball team (but not a playoff team—was 40,377 spectators).

Just plain less entertaining than before, the Brewers?

The Atlanta Braves experienced record-breaking attendance in the early 1990s when the team first gained notoriety, then again in 1997 with the completion of Turner Field, but also a gradual drop in the years that followed, despite the team making the playoffs in 11 of those years and 14 of those 15.

Do the Brewers’ accomplishments now annoy their supporters? Or, is it just that this year’s team entered as the clear favorite to win the division, but the Brewers haven’t performed well enough to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, therefore they can’t generate the same enthusiasm as in years past?

Schlesinger said, “We don’t believe that extended patterns of winning dials back the enthusiasm; we do think that it dials up the expectations,” noting that earlier years, such 2008, when the Brewers were only contending, were enough to incite Brewers fever in Milwaukee. However, that time has since passed.

“Have the standards changed? Yes, for both our supporters and the organization,” he continued. “While making the postseason is a significant accomplishment, our goals are higher. Higher expectations come with success, and we’d gladly accept that challenge if we could choose it.

Even in the post-COVID environment, it is feasible to fend against dropping attendance, as nine teams, including those in Toronto, San Diego, Atlanta, Seattle, and Chicago, have recorded attendance increases from 2019. The majority of the increases can be attributed to improved teamwork.

How can the Brewers win back their fans?

Upgrades to American Family Field, such as the addition of X-Golf to the club level in left field, according to Schlesinger, could help reverse the trend. He added they are making every effort to pay attention to fans.

A more robust food and beverage delivery service at the stadium, along with the ongoing benefit of reestablishing contact with the community in the post-COVID environment, were both cited by Schlesinger as improvements.

This year, he said, “we’ve had more chances to directly connect players with fans, whether that’s through community appearances or initiatives like we’ve done with players picking up bar and restaurant tabs around town. We’ll keep bringing those engagement experiences back into the daily mix. “We are re-imagining our ticket discount programs, investigating postgame events, and reviewing our all-fan giveaways beyond the conventional bobbleheads,” the statement reads.

If group sales are the main offender, the situation should gradually improve as companies move back to in-person events.

Additionally, a strong postseason performance wouldn’t hurt.