2005 Attendance

While the numbers were released in October, I don't appear to have gotten around to posting the 2005 attendance records. So, here they are:

2005 Central League Attendance

Team     Games Attendance   Avg.     2004      Diff
Hanshin    73   3,132,224  42,907  3,523,000  -11.1%
Giants     73   2,922,093  40,029  3,744,500  -22.0%
Chunichi   73   2,284,400  31,293  2,330,500  - 2.0%
Yakult     73   1,307,731  17,914  1,686,000  -22.4%
Hiroshima  73   1,050,119  14,385    986,000  + 6.5%
Yokohama   73     976,004  13,370  1,500,000  -34.9%
Totals:   438  11,672,571  26,650 13,770,000  -15.2%

2005 Pacific League Attendance

Team     Games Attendance   Avg.     2004      Diff
Softbank   68   2,115,977  31,117  3,070,000  -31.1%
Nippon Ham 68   1,365,643  20,083  1,616,000  -15,5%
Orix       68   1,356,156  19,943  1,415,000  - 4.2%
Lotte      68   1,334,014  19,618  1,596,000  -16.4%
Seibu      68   1,103,148  16,223  1,649,000  -33.1%
Rakuten    68     977,104  14,369          *
Totals:   408   8,252,042  20,226 10,684,000  -22.8%

* Kintetsu had 1,338,000 reported for 2004.

You may notice that everyone is down by a huge margin from 2004. Please keep in mind that this was the first year that actual attendance was published, as opposed to estimated attendance rounded up to the nearest 1,000. That's why the Giants averaged 40,000 fans rather than the 55,000 they've published as attending every game for at least the last 10 years at Tokyo Dome. So, in short,

These Numbers Don't Mean Anything

At least, they don't mean anything when compared to previous years. So, please, don't use them as "proof" that Japanese baseball is losing its popularity.

What is interesting is the two single-digit percentage drops and the one positive one - Hiroshima. Assuming that all of the teams greatly over-stated their attendance records last season, this shows a positive flow for Hiroshima, Chunichi, and Orix. Is this a byproduct of the merger - gathering those Osakans that aren't Hanshin fans?

And Hiroshima was out of competition for most of the season. Where did all of these fans come from all of a sudden? Does it have to do with the proposed new stadium?

Well, like I said, the comparisons can't really be used for anything as proof of any kinds of negative trends. But can it stand as proof for a positive trend for these three teams?