In sports, economic growth can be measured by attendance figures. After all, any sports franchise needs to draw fans to its games to make money and thus compete within its own league. For this post, I want to look at attendance figures from baseball during the 1880s compared to the growth of some of the cities where these teams played.

The first city to look at will be Boston. Looking back at yearly attendance figures for the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves), we see that attendance was rising almost every year during the 1880s.

Source: “Atlanta Braves Attendance Data,” Baseball Almanac, accessed November 2, 2022, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/bravatte.shtml

The attendance took a jump in 1883 which is most likely attributed to the team finishing in 1^st place. The previous 3 seasons the team finished in 6^th (1880 & 1881) and 4^th (1882). As the team became less competitive (finishing 5^th in 1885) attendance dropped once again. However, the rest of the decade the attendance levels increased per season. [1] As you see the per game attendance in the National League grew almost every year, aside from a backslide in 1888. These numbers also represent a relatively new professional sport in America. The first professional team did not exist until 1869 with the Cincinnati Reds.[2] Prior to this the sport was seen as an amateur game, mostly played by kids.

These are impressive figures for the time. In 1880, Boston only had a population of 362, 839. However, the city was growing fast in the latter half of the 19^th century. The population in 1880 was a 45% increase from a decade earlier. And as the Boston Red Stockings were piling up wins in the National League in the 1880s, the city would see more staggering growth. By 1890, Boston had a population of 448,477, another 24% growth from the decade prior. [3] Impressive as well since by 1880 just 22.5% of America lived in cities. [4]

Another city to look at when looking at the success of baseball during the 1880s was the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs). When looking at their attendance figures, the numbers tend to go up and down throughout the decade. However, over all the numbers are on an upward trend before taking a deep dive at the end of the decade. The team was dominate in the first part of the decade finishing in 1^st place in 1880, 1881, and 1882 before dropping to 2^nd place in 1883. The team bounced back to win again in 1885 and 1886 and were competitive (finishing 2^nd or 3^rd) the rest of the decade. [5]

Source: “Chicago Cubs Attendance Data,” Baseball Almanac, accessed November 2, 2022, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml

When looking at population numbers of Chicago, again the attendance levels are impressive but not as impressive as in Boston. Chicago had a much higher population during the 1880s. In 1880, the population of Chicago was 503,185 and grew to over a million by 1890 (1,099,850). [6]

Perhaps this is why Boston, by 1887, was able to pay the highest salaries in the game when they paid Charles Radbourne $4,500 for the season. And again in 1890, Boston had the highest paid player in the league with Hardy Richardson at $4,000. [7]

As we look at these numbers, there are a few things that should be noted. First, putting a good team on the field does impact attendance levels. As a whole, most people want to see a winner and will pay to do so. Population in a city does not necessarily equate to more attendance for sports teams. It absolutely helps, but as you can see in the 1880s it was not the only factor. There must be success on the field. Also notice that each time one of these two teams move to a new park, the attendance jumps. This is something that can also impact attendance and growth in the short term.

---

[7] Michael Haupert, “MLB’s annual salary leaders since 1874,” Society for American Baseball Research, accessed November 3, 2022, https://sabr.org/research/article/mlbs-annual-salary-leaders-since-1874/.