How popular is pro baseball in Japan, you ask?

How popular is pro baseball in Japan, you ask?

Hmm, let’s compare it to MLB and find out!

First up — let’s take a look at the average attendance per game for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Team	(TEAM)	Attendance (average per game) 2023-2024
Los Angeles Dodgers	LAD	47,799
Hanshin Tigers	Tigers	41,433
New York Yankees	NYY	41,386
San Diego Padres	SD	40,390
Philadelphia Phillies	PHI	39,798
Yomiuri Giants	Giants	38,696
St. Louis Cardinals	STL	38,654
Atlanta Braves	ATL	38,524
Houston Astros	HOU	37,283
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	Hawks	36,784
Toronto Blue Jays	TOR	36,016
Seattle Mariners	SEA	32,912
Yokohama DeNA Baystars	Baystars	32,440
Chicago Cubs	CHC	32,433
Boston Red Sox	BOS	32,205
Chunichi Dragons	Dragons	31,642
Texas Rangers	TEX	30,228
Milwaukee Brewers	MIL	30,187
Los Angeles Angels	LAA	29,710
San Francisco Giants	SF	29,446
Colorado Rockies	COL	29,084
Hiroshima Carp	Carp	28,958
Orix Buffaloes	Buffaloes	28,659
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Swallows	27,800
Hokkaido Nippon-ham Fighters	Fighters	27,673
New York Mets	NYM	27,125
Chiba Lotte Marines	Marines	26,015
Cincinnati Reds	CIN	25,727
Washington Nationals	WSH	25,627
Minnesota Twins	MIN	24,114
Baltimore Orioles	BAL	23,425
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Eagles	21,000
Saitama Seibu Lions	Lions	20,821
Arizona Diamondbacks	ARI	18,992
Tampa Bay Rays	TB	18,255
Cleveland Guardians	CLE	17,913
Detroit Tigers	DET	17,256
Kansas City Royals	KC	17,055
Pittsburgh Pirates	PIT	16,934
Chicago White Sox	CWS	16,640
Miami Marlins	MIA	12,605
Oakland Athletics	OAK	9,327

Wait… what was that!?
Hanshin Tigers have the second-highest average attendance right after the Dodgers!?
More than the Yankees, Padres, and Phillies!? 😲

But… but maybe Japanese stadiums are just huge or something? (Spoiler: they’re not.)

Alright then, let’s compare the stadium capacities of MLB and NPB teams!

TEAM	(TEAM)	Home ballpark	Capacity
Los Angeles Dodgers	LAD	Dodger Stadium	56,000
Colorado Rockies	COL	Coors Field	50,398
New York Yankees	NYY	Yankee Stadium	49,642
Toronto Blue Jays	TOR	Rogers Centre	49,282
Arizona Diamondbacks	ARI	Chase Field	48,519
Seattle Mariners	SEA	T-Moblie Park	47,574
Baltimore Orioles	BAL	Oriole Park ar Canden Yards	45,971
Los Angeles Angels	LAA	Angel Stadium of Anaheim	45,957
St. Louis Cardinals	STL	Cusch Stadium	45,529
Philadelphia Phillies	PHI	Citizens Bank Park	43,651
Yomiuri Giants	Giants	Tokyo Dome	43,500
Hanshin Tigers	Tigers	Hanshin Koshien Stadium	43,359
Chicago Cubs	CHC	Wrigley Field	42,495
Cincinnati Reds	CIN	Great American Ball Park	42,319
New York Mets	NYM	Citi Field	41,922
San Francisco Giants	SF	Oracle Park	41,915
Milwaukee Brewers	MIL	American Family Field	41,900
Washington Nationals	WSH	Nationals Park	41,888
Houston Astros	HOU	Daikin Park	41,574
Detroit Tigers	DET	Comerica Park	41,574
Atlanta Braves	ATL	Truist Park	41,500
San Diego Padres	SD	Petco Park	41,164
Chicago White Sox	CWS	Guaranteed Rate Field	40,615
Texas Rangers	TEX	Globe Life Field	40,300
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	Hawks	Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka	40,142
Minnesota Twins	MIN	Target Field	39,021
Pittsburgh Pirates	PIT	PNC Park	38,362
Kansas City Royals	KC	Kauffman Stadium	37,903
Cleveland Guardians	CLE	Progressive Field	37,675
Boston Red Sox	BOS	Fenway Park	37,673
Miami Marlins	MIA	load Depot Park	36,742
Chunichi Dragons	Dragons	Vantellin Dome Nagoya	36,418
Orix Buffaloes	Buffaloes	Kyocera Dome Osaka	36,220
Hokkaido Nippon-ham Fighters	Fighters	ES Con Field Hokkaido	36,000
Oakland Athletics	OAK	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	35,067
Yokohama DeNA Baystars	Baystars	Yokohama Stadium	34,142
Hiroshima Carp	Carp	MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima	33,000
Saitama Seibu Lions	Lions	Belluna Dome	31,552
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Eagles	Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi	31,272
Tampa Bay Rays	TB	Tropicana Field	31,042
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Swallows	Meiji Jingu Stadium	30,969
Chiba Lotte Marines	Marines	ZOZO Marine Starium	29,645

Wow, as expected — MLB stadiums are on a whole different scale.
Even Japan’s largest stadiums like Tokyo Dome or Koshien can’t quite match the size of places like Angel Stadium or Citizens Bank Park.

Wait a sec…
That means Japanese stadiums are basically packed to the brim every game!?

Let’s look at the attendance rate (actual attendance ÷ stadium capacity).
In other words, how full the stadium actually is — not just ticket sales, but real people in real seats.

TEAM	(TEAM)	Home ballpark	Attendance rate	Capacity	Attendance (average per game) 2023-	Attendance (average per game) 2024	Attendance (average per game) 2023
San Diego Padres	SD	Petco Park	98.12%	41,164	40,390	40,390	40,389
Hanshin Tigers	Tigers	Hanshin Koshien Stadium	95.56%	43,359	41,433	41,801	41,064
Yokohama DeNA Baystars	Baystars	Yokohama Stadium	95.01%	34,142	32,440	32,754	32,126
Atlanta Braves	ATL	Truist Park	92.83%	41,500	38,524	37,647	39,401
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	Hawks	Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka	91.63%	40,142	36,784	37,862	35,705
Philadelphia Phillies	PHI	Citizens Bank Park	91.17%	43,651	39,798	41,439	38,157
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Swallows	Meiji Jingu Stadium	89.77%	30,969	27,800	28,153	27,447
Houston Astros	HOU	Daikin Park	89.68%	41,574	37,283	36,883	37,683
Yomiuri Giants	Giants	Tokyo Dome	88.96%	43,500	38,696	39,247	38,145
Chiba Lotte Marines	Marines	ZOZO Marine Starium	87.76%	29,645	26,015	26,975	25,055
Hiroshima Carp	Carp	MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima	87.75%	33,000	28,958	29,376	28,540
Chunichi Dragons	Dragons	Vantellin Dome Nagoya	86.89%	36,418	31,642	32,951	30,333
Boston Red Sox	BOS	Fenway Park	85.48%	37,673	32,205	32,367	32,042
Los Angeles Dodgers	LAD	Dodger Stadium	85.35%	56,000	47,799	48,226	47,371
St. Louis Cardinals	STL	Cusch Stadium	84.90%	45,529	38,654	37,295	40,013
New York Yankees	NYY	Yankee Stadium	83.37%	49,642	41,386	41,910	40,862
Orix Buffaloes	Buffaloes	Kyocera Dome Osaka	79.12%	36,220	28,659	30,270	27,048
Hokkaido Nippon-ham Fighters	Fighters	ES Con Field Hokkaido	76.87%	36,000	27,673	28,830	26,515
Chicago Cubs	CHC	Wrigley Field	76.32%	42,495	32,433	32,128	32,737
Texas Rangers	TEX	Globe Life Field	75.01%	40,300	30,228	31,540	28,916
Toronto Blue Jays	TOR	Rogers Centre	73.08%	49,282	36,016	34,728	37,303
Milwaukee Brewers	MIL	American Family Field	72.04%	41,900	30,187	30,554	29,819
San Francisco Giants	SF	Oracle Park	70.25%	41,915	29,446	29,355	29,537
Seattle Mariners	SEA	T-Moblie Park	69.18%	47,574	32,912	33,324	32,500
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Eagles	Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi	67.15%	31,272	21,000	23,132	18,868
Saitama Seibu Lions	Lions	Belluna Dome	65.99%	31,552	20,821	21,601	20,040
New York Mets	NYM	Citi Field	64.70%	41,922	27,125	25,722	28,528
Los Angeles Angels	LAA	Angel Stadium of Anaheim	64.65%	45,957	29,710	28,665	30,755
Minnesota Twins	MIN	Target Field	61.80%	39,021	24,114	24,967	23,261
Washington Nationals	WSH	Nationals Park	61.18%	41,888	25,627	26,719	24,535
Cincinnati Reds	CIN	Great American Ball Park	60.79%	42,319	25,727	26,488	24,965
Tampa Bay Rays	TB	Tropicana Field	58.81%	31,042	18,255	18,729	17,781
Colorado Rockies	COL	Coors Field	57.71%	50,398	29,084	29,484	28,683
Baltimore Orioles	BAL	Oriole Park ar Canden Yards	50.95%	45,971	23,425	25,292	21,557
Cleveland Guardians	CLE	Progressive Field	47.54%	37,675	17,913	18,367	17,458
Kansas City Royals	KC	Kauffman Stadium	45.00%	37,903	17,055	17,587	16,522
Pittsburgh Pirates	PIT	PNC Park	44.14%	38,362	16,934	17,144	16,724
Detroit Tigers	DET	Comerica Park	41.51%	41,574	17,256	17,556	16,955
Chicago White Sox	CWS	Guaranteed Rate Field	40.97%	40,615	16,640	16,914	16,366
Arizona Diamondbacks	ARI	Chase Field	39.14%	48,519	18,992	17,453	20,530
Miami Marlins	MIA	load Depot Park	34.31%	36,742	12,605	12,557	12,652
Oakland Athletics	OAK	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	26.60%	35,067	9,327	8,378	10,275

…!!
Six of the top ten teams are from NPB!
And Hanshin? They’re neck-and-neck with the Padres — and drawing more fans than Petco Park!?

That’s Hanshin for you. That’s the Hanshin Tigers.

So what does that mean…?
Getting a ticket to a Hanshin game?
It’s basically like trying to score World Series tickets — every. single. day.

And still, Hanshin plays in the Central League with six teams —
Three of which are based in Tokyo or Yokohama.
So in a way, it might actually be easier to see them on the road than at their home stadium, Koshien!

This… is Hanshin.

Welcome to the bottomless pit of being a Hanshin Tigers fan. 🎩🐯

And now that you’ve seen all this, it’s obvious —
Japan’s most beloved team, pulling in MLB-level crowds,
you’ve got no choice but to cheer for Hanshin!

So hey — why not come to the ballpark and cheer with us?

…Oh!
But, um… about those Koshien tickets for the 2025 season (all 3 million of them)…
They sold out on February 25th, the same day they went on sale. 😭