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For those who cannot wait until next year…
Important pupdate:
Our 2026 schedule is here! pic.twitter.com/N4QsBT9Bwf
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 26, 2025
Maybe the schedule kids figured the Redbirds would be insignificant after the deadline so why bother to schedule any games with a divisional foe in Sept? Perhaps they’re not as dumb as they look.
One upset season ticket holder provides specifics.
@Cardinals this is outrageous! Why would I renew season tickets when the early “discounted” price is higher than what I paid last year and you’re not willing to invest… I’m so mad😭 Don’t make season ticket holders pay the price for your attendance problem! @dgoold #STLCards pic.twitter.com/Lb74hLOM4O
— Kyle Bartz (@chickenmanSTL) September 2, 2025
It’s a precarious situation that could quickly become a death spiral if not managed properly. I don’t see why anyone would want to pony up money to watch 81 games in St Louis next year unless the ownership is willing to put a more exciting product on the field.
To me, it is a matter that the Cardinals need to show they are willing to do whatever it takes to put a world series caliber team on the field. They can’t keep reducing payroll and blame it on attendance. They need to upgrade the roster. They are still at the point that I can’t tell if they are willing to do that. It’s time for ownership to lose some money in the short term to rebuild this for the long term profit.
There are 2 ways you can look at this increase in prices. The first is purely from a revenue perspective and the other is the optics of the decision. I’m of the opinion that the DeWitts only care about the revenue component. Given that they know season ticket sales are going to go down based on this year. It is a simple calculation based on the elasticity of demand to calculate how much of a ticket price increase is needed to offset a certain ticket sales decline to keep revenue the same.
The optics that this sends to the local fan base however is terrible and is certain to burn some long term bridges. Will alienated fans come back when the team starts to win? That is a big gamble to take in my opinion. To big if you ask me.Good post osuagec. DeWitt is on the verge of destroying an MLB franchise for years to come. The “Mozeliak Mediocrity” isn’t attracting fans…. long time fans and new younger fans that simply don’t want to pay money to see a team without any stars and the pitching staff at this point is turning people off. There’s plenty of frustration and anger in the ranks of Cardinal loyals.
The City of St. Louis only has the Cards, the Blues and some soccer team I suppose. It’s a baseball town on the ropes. It seems that one man’s financial strategy is causing an upheaval and people in St. Louis don’t want to watch mediocrity.
I remember a year or two ago Brian and I having a discussion on this board about the potential death spiral.
Losing team equals less attendance which equals less revenue which equals less spending which each equals more losing, etc…and on and on. We are starting to see that play out.
In general I am of the opinion that when the team starts winning again the fans will come back but things are going to be bleak until then. We need to get this rebuild right or we will become just like the Pirates. Bloom is going to have a lot of pressure on him the next few years.
I don’t like being right about the spiral, but I have ample experience with that in the real world.
I am wondering how long Bloom’s honeymoon will last. Those who expect the problem to be fixed in weeks or months, rather than years, will be the first to agitate. I fear there are (or will be) a lot of them.
Bloom will face the same (or maybe even tighter) financial limitations as Mo. One can only hope he makes better use of the resources provided.
I don’t think Bloom’s honeymoon will last very long because the first official decision he is going to make is whether Marmol returns in 2026. If the answer is yes, which is my expectation, then that will turn off a swath of fans.
Bloom also strikes me as the kind of guy that is not going to take short cuts. He probably has a plan and is going to follow it methodically, which means we may not be competing for pennants for 3 or 4 years from now. That is going to create a lot of unrest from the BFIB.
I wonder if Bloom will share his timetable. It would set fan expectations, but probably not be positive for near term revenues. What would be worst, IMO, would be to continue to message that they are competing and rebuilding at the same time as they have the last several years. Buzzwords don’t cut it. Lack of candor mixed with some organizational arrogance helped get them where they are in terms of waning fan support. Some losing could be accepted if there is a clear plan to get championship competitive again. I, for one, am willing to buy, but only if the sales pitch is believable.
P.S. Bloom’s contract as PBO runs through the 2030 season.
BW, agree 100%. Call a turd, a turd and not fertilizer. Give the fans a realistic plan and they will overlook some of bad times.
Miss the bar? Just lower it by a third and celebrate.
The cold, hard fact is that in 2025, St. Louis ranks 22nd of 30 MLB teams in average tickets sold (called “attendance”). 17 other teams passed the two million total already.
The #STLCards have surpassed two million fans this season for the 40th consecutive year. Only the Dodgers (49) have a longer streak.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) September 4, 2025
Posting this for reference. A year and a half ago, BDW III said that he believes the team is better than they were playing. Perhaps that is a core issue – that they overvalue their own players (at least publicly). The last three years suggest the team is a .500-ish squad that is not improving.
Some major quotes by #STLCards president Bill DeWitt III in an interview with @martinkilcoyne2 earlier in the week.
Is he out of touch with the fanbase? #ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/4IN6wdHhOh
— Thomas Gauvain (@thomasgauvain) May 11, 2024
Yes Brian – good point about being competitive. One could argue and there are those who will that the Cardinals were / are competitive for the third WC slot THIS year.
Hell, they are not mathematically eliminated from the division race yet…
Bloom’s biggest fan base related issue is that he is inheriting a crowd that is already largely fatigued with mediocrity. The last decade has not been good at all. We all know the postseason numbers and that they’ve missed the playoffs entirely 6 of the last 10 years.
The team has no stars that the fans want to see, no MOTO bats that’s other teams have to worry about, no ace level pitchers that can just shut down a good lineup. Nothing.
I read an article yesterday calling the Cardinals the politest team in baseball as they have a roster full of complimentary players – I ‘chuckled’ at that.
Bloom has his work cut out for him but he’s had a two year running start at it – which was a really smart move by the organization.
He’s going to need to quickly distance himself from Mozelaik. We’ll see if he does and if he can pry a few more dollars loose from BDW’s pocket book.
If there are serious labor issues in 2027 that could cause a rebuilding team like the Cardinals a lot of trouble as any fan good will they were in the process of rebuilding could be destroyed…
Brian Walton
Competitive for what? The World Series? The Division? The last Wild Card? That is quite a spectrum.
World Series. Certainly winning the division. 4 years is plenty for a downswing/rebuild. I would say shooting for that 90-95 win roster is the goal.
They actually have the players in place right now where we, positionally, are set for 2027 as a lot of guys will be under contract and in the prime or starting their prime years. I feel really good about our roster ‘floor’ offensively and defensively.
So it will be all about setting up the pitching for 2027.
I am not seeing the trend you are, Pads. By many measures, 2025 is a step down from 2024. Becoming World Series competitive seems light years away from where they are now, IMO. I don’t see the pieces yet for that to change after just one more year plus a month (2027). But we have to give Bloom a chance to work his plan.
ASISTENCIA
Dodgers metió más de 53 mil viernes y sábado. Llega a su último juego en casa con 3, 965, 869 fanáticos. Con un poco menos de 35 mil hoy, llegará a 4 millones.
3+ MILLONES EN 2025: Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Phillies y Mets.
Cubs en ruta a lograrlo. Giants, Braves…
— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) September 21, 2025
(It will be translated when you click on the link.)
Meanwhile, with just today’s home game remaining, the Cards will finish at about 2.25 million. They are currently ranked 19th of 30 in total attendance, but may finish lower, as several other teams have more than one home game left on their schedule.
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