Miami Marlins post lower average attendance than LSU Tigers baseball

Heading into 2018, the Miami Marlins had to know that they were going to struggle at the gates. But to have a lower average attendance than the LSU Tigers baseball squad…

The Miami Marlins on Opening Day 2018 were hardly recognizable. The star power was gone, with Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon, and Marcell Ozuna having been sent away. J.T. Realmuto was still in town, but it wasn’t by his own decision. Even a diehard Marlins fan may not have been able to tell who was on the roster without a scorecard.

Given the roster massacre over the offseason, it was not a surprise that the Marlins struggled at the box office. However, no one saw their struggles at the gates being so bad that the LSU Tigers had a higher average attendance than a major league franchise.

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Overall, the Marlins miserable attendance was staggering. They were the first team since the 2004 Montreal Expos to fail to draw over 1 million fans in a season, when the Expos were in lame duck status. So far as everyone is aware, the Marlins are not leaving town. Instead, that dramatic drop in attendance is a result of their ineptitude on the field, and the stumbles of the new regime. Derek Jeter may have had logical reasons for tearing the roster apart, but that did not make a good first impression on the Marlins faithful.

In time, those numbers may reverse themselves. The Marlins are hoping that a young, dynamic team can learn to win together, to lead Miami into a period of sustainable success. Obviously, there would be rough patches in the road, but that was just a part of learning how to win.

However, it is striking to see that LSU had a higher average attendance. Their home stadium has a capacity of 10,326 fans, less than a third of the 36,742 maximum capacity of Marlins Park. And it really was not that close, with LSU averaging over 750 more fans per contest than the Marlins.

There were a lot of embarrassing moments for the Miami Marlins in 2018. Having a lower average attendance than the LSU Tigers baseball team may be the nadir.