Major League Baseball’s 2023 attendance resurgence beat even the most optimistic internal projections.

After predicting a full-season lift of 6% to 8% in June, the league ended the regular season with a total attendance of 70.75 million, a 9.6% increase. The total is the MLB’s largest since 2017 and the first above 70 million since that same year. 

Aside from COVID-impacted seasons, the 2023 figure is also the greatest year-over-year increase at the gate since 1993, when MLB expanded from 26 to 28 teams. 

A key factor in this year’s attendance bump was a trio of new on-field rules that introduced a new pitch clock, larger bases, and a ban on extreme defensive shifts. Aimed at eliminating dead time within games and creating a crisper, more action-filled product more relevant to younger fans, those changes helped generate a massive 24-minute reduction in average game times to two hours, 40 minutes — MLB’s lowest such number since 1985.

Also contributing were an influx of newly competitive teams, with Arizona, Baltimore, Miami, Minnesota, and Texas all returning to the postseason after multiyear absences. Each of those teams were up by double-digit percentages in attendance. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers led the league in attendance for the 10th consecutive year with a total of 3.84 million. The Oakland A’s ranked last with a figure of 832,352 and are now preparing for a formal league vote next month on their Las Vegas relocation bid. 

Seventeen clubs reached 2.5 million in attendance, matching a league record, while 11 separate weekends reached 1.5 million — a figure more than twice the combined total of five such weekends for the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons.

Overall, 26 of MLB’s 30 teams posted total attendance increases in 2023. The Dodgers recorded a marginal decline on that perennially league-leading total, and St. Louis, Washington, and the Chicago White Sox each posted disappointing campaigns on the field. 

Formula 1 is one step closer to adding an 11th team to the grid.

The FIA has approved a bid led by American Michael Andretti, commencing the second phase of the expansion process, which will see the group engage in commercial discussions with Formula One Management.

F1 owner Liberty Media will make the final decision on the potential expansion, which will cost at least $200 million and could reach $600 million. The current 10 teams on the F1 grid have publicly opposed the idea of adding new teams but won’t get an official vote on the matter.

The last time F1 had more than 20 cars on the grid was 2016, when 11 teams fielded a total of 22. The maximum allowed under FIA guidelines would be 26. 

An Andretti team wouldn’t launch until 2025 at the earliest.

F1’s Stock Still Rising

With F1’s recent explosion of popularity in the U.S. thanks to Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” docuseries, expanding the grid has been a hot topic as more motorsports stakeholders want in on the action.

In November, F1 is adding its third U.S. race in Las Vegas following the successful debut of the Miami Grand Prix last year. Austin, Texas, has hosted a grand prix since 2012.

Silicon Valley tech giant Apple is also reportedly interested in acquiring F1 media rights — and potentially willing to pay up to $2 billion annually.

Facing growing pressures from leagues, teams, creditors, distributors, and accelerating industry trends, Diamond Sports Group is once again asking a court for more time to prepare a reorganization plan. 

After previously getting an extension to file that plan on Sept. 30, the Bally Sports parent has gone back to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas to seek additional time to formally restructure itself.

The company is now requesting a new filing date of Nov. 29 — one that extends well into the upcoming NHL and NBA regular seasons. If approved, DSG would then have an additional two months to solicit approval for the plan from its creditors.

“The debtors’ Chapter 11 cases are tremendously complex and are occurring while the cable industry is rapidly changing due to subscribers’ persistent ‘cord cutting’ as they move away from traditional cable and satellite multichannel video distributors,” DSG said.

“Navigating these choppy waters requires discussions with, and cooperation from, many parties, including multiple creditor groups, sports leagues, teams, and MVPDs. With the NBA and NHL seasons almost here, and a key MVPD contract up for renewal, the debtors realize that time is short and each day matters.”

Last month, DSG struck a multiyear rights agreement with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, a pact it hopes will be a template in the reorganization efforts. But failing a larger, successful reorganization plan, the likelihood of DSG’s liquidation increases sharply. 

DSG is also in the midst of an interrelated legal fight with parent company Sinclair Inc.  

RSN Changes In Houston

As expected, the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets have acquired the former AT&T SportsNet Southwest from Warner Bros. Discovery and are rebranding the RSN as the Space City Home Network, effective Tuesday.

The RSN will be co-owned by the Astros and Rockets as a joint venture and show both teams, with the network’s first live game being a Rockets preseason contest on Oct. 10.

WBD has signaled its intent to leave the RSN business. The company recently parted with AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh in a sale to Pittsburgh Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group and is set to shut down AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain in Denver.