Shohei Ohtani apparently did little to brings fans to Angels games: "He did not provide much of an attendance boost"

In the run-up to the 2023 trade deadline, the Angels were reportedly mulling over whether or not they should trade Shohei Ohtani. Despite the pending free agent being likely to leave the team in mere months, team owner Arte Moreno apparently wanted to squeeze all the value he could out of the superstar.

The theory was that having Shohei Ohtani in the lineup was an ace-card for the Angels to attract fans to the ballpark. However, according to new stats, getting the opportunity to watch the greatest two-way star of the generation did little to boost the numbers.

"Shohei Ohtani launches his American League-leading 41st home run!" - MLB

Recently, MLB analyst outlined the ticket sale figures for the Los Angeles Angels in The Athletic. Passan remarked that, contrary to popular knowledge, Ohtani's continued presence on the team did not boost ticket sales. Passan pointed to the fact that only 2.5 and 2.6 million fans came to Angel Stadium in 2022 and 2023 respectively. This represents a steep decline from the over 3 million fans that came yearly between 2003 and 2019. Passan continued:

""Ohtani did not provide much of an attendance boost for the Angels, who during his six seasons averaged only 163 fans more when he was the starting pitcher at home than when he was not, according to STATS Perform. The team exceeded 3 million in home attendance each season from 2003 to 2019. But in the past two seasons, played without restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Angels’ home totals were 2.5 million and 2.6 million, respectively." - Jeff Passan

Now in the throes of free agency, Ohtani is expected to receive offers of up to $500 million. Apart from the immense talent of the 2023 AL MVP, teams will be putting up such money because they believe Ohtani will drive ticket sales. Only some of the league's wealthiest teams, like the Los Angeles Dodgers, are considered to stand a chance.

Shohei Ohtani could thrive in the right market

Although the Angels did not see a marked increase in fans on account of Ohtani, other teams could. The Toronto Blue Jays, for example, have been identified as a possible destination for the Japanese star. As MLB's only Canadian team, Ohtani could have an entire nation behind him. Regardless, it is not likely that many teams will see this revealing statistic as a dicentive to go after this generational talent.