“If it was easy, it would’ve been done long ago.”
Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten wasn’t describing the goal of winning back-to-back World Series titles, something the club is aiming to do for the first time ever this October.
Rather, he was referencing a different franchise first. In their final home game of the regular season, the Dodgers passed 4 million in season attendance for the first time in team history and became the first Major League Baseball team to reach the mark in 17 years.
And those big crowds will serve the Dodgers well as their postseason journey begins Tuesday in the NL wild-card series against the Reds.
“We talked before the season started. If ever there was a year we had a chance to do it, this would be the year,” Kasten said. “We thought if things fell our way we could get there, and I’m very proud that we did because it’s really hard.”
Coming off a World Series title and another winter of massive spending, and with reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani returning to his two-way duties, the Dodgers became the first team to draw 4 million fans to their stadium since 2008, when the Mets and Yankees both did it in their final seasons at Shea Stadium and the old Yankee Stadium, respectively.
That atmosphere helped them go 52-29 at home this season, tied for the second-best mark in the National League. Since 2021, their .672 winning percentage at home is the best mark in the majors. The Phillies (.622) are the only other team with a home winning percentage above .600 in that time.
With a capacity of 56,000 at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers have an edge over the rest of MLB. But they still have to fill those seats. More often than not, they got close. They had announced crowds of at least 50,000 in more than half of their home games this year, including 25 sellouts, and never drew fewer than 40,000.
(Photo by Kait Devir/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
In total, the Dodgers concluded the 2025 regular season with an attendance of 4,012,470, passing their previous high set in 2019 (3,974,309). They averaged 49,537 fans per game. The Padres, who also set an all-time overall attendance mark, ranked second in both categories at 3,392,129 total and 42,401 per night.
Six teams — the Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Phillies, Mets and Cubs — reached 3 million in attendance. The Dodgers, who’ve led MLB in attendance every year since 2013 (not including the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when fans were replaced by cardboard cutouts), hit the 3 million mark in their 60th home game of the season.
Still, it came down to the final home game of the year for them to reach the elusive 4 million mark. Kasten said getting there required the right confluence of events — plus some good fortune.
“Anything between 3.8 to 4 million or over, there’s not a lot of difference,” Kasten said. “It could all just be luck of the draw, what kind of opponents we have on what kind of nights. That plays a part in it, and that’s hard to predict a year ahead of time.”
It helped that they didn’t have to surrender any home games when they went to Tokyo to start the season. It helped that they’ve built a consistent winner, reaching the postseason every year since 2013, the first full season under the ownership of Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Ice Cube and Kobe Bryant were among the more unique bobbleheads in 2025. (Getty Images)
Giveaways helped, too, including 23 different bobblehead nights that were offered throughout the year, which ranged from Ohtani (there were four different opportunities to get an Ohtani figurine) to Fernando Valenzuela to Kobe Bryant and Ice Cube.
“We know our prices are on the higher end, we understand that because that’s the kind of demand that we have, but we try to provide added value,” Kasten said. “And without those added value nights, we wouldn’t have gotten [to 4 million]. I’m snug saying that.”
Certainly, it additionally helped that their video games nonetheless mattered down the stretch.
Regardless of the juggernaut they appeared to construct — their tax funds alone this yr are greater than about half the league spent on their whole payroll — the Dodgers didn’t clinch the division till the final week of the season, at which level they’d already completed their dwelling slate.
And, within the remaining week of the season, there was one other draw: Clayton Kershaw’s remaining common season dwelling begin after 18 years with the group.
“Dodger Stadium is an excellent particular place, and the followers are the principle purpose why,” Kershaw stated afterward. “Each night time it’s 50,000 folks.”
However there’s one other issue — maybe the principle one — that may’t be ignored, and that’s the presence of Ohtani, a global icon and draw not like any within the sport. His jaw-dropping $700 million (closely deferred) contract pays for itself, contemplating the income streams he opens for the franchise. The Dodgers have reinvested that windfall again into the product.
They dedicated greater than $1 billion earlier than the 2024 season within the winter once they added Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, then assured round a half-billion extra this previous offseason, throwing luxury-tax funds to the wind and going the place no group had earlier than of their quest to repeat as champions.
When it is a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead giveaway, anticipate even larger crowds.
In that point, Dodger Stadium has grown as a vacation spot for worldwide vacationers — particularly for his or her followers in Japan. The Dodgers supply stadium excursions day-after-day in 4 languages, together with Japanese. They’ve added Japanese meals choices of their concession stands and Japanese merchandise of their shops.
“Not solely is it an excellent time for baseball domestically, however increasingly it’s additionally an excellent time internationally,” Kasten stated. “And we’re definitely on the forefront of that.”
(Photograph by Katelyn Mulcahy/MLB Pictures through Getty Photographs)
Throughout MLB, attendance numbers have been up, a noteworthy accomplishment contemplating two groups have been enjoying in minor-league ballparks (Rays attendance, for instance, was practically half one million much less this yr than final yr). Half of MLB groups noticed their dwelling attendance go up by a minimum of 50,000 in comparison with a yr in the past.
It’s the third straight yr that MLB attendance has been over 70 million, the primary time that has occurred since 2015-17. Attendance has gone up year-over-year in every of these three years, the primary time that has occurred over a three-year interval since 2005-07. That’s not a coincidence, because the 2023 season is when the league started to institute a collection of modifications which were extensively considered as a hit, none larger than the pitch clock. The typical time of recreation this yr was two hours and 38 minutes.
However at the same time as curiosity within the sport spikes, the Dodgers stand out as a singular power: They led MLB not solely in dwelling attendance but additionally in highway attendance this yr.
“Now we have extra folks in Mexico that help the Dodgers than another group,” Kasten stated. “Extra folks in Japan help the Dodgers than another group. To the extent we will have publicity and help anyplace on the earth, that’s a plus for baseball and for its future enterprise.”
Rowan Kavner is an MLB author for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand lined the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved again to the West Coast in 2014. Observe him on X at @RowanKavner.
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