Filling the Seats is How Nashville Rolls

Stadiums and arenas full of fans. Cheers, celebrations, energy filling the air.?Record attendance for baseball's Opening Day 2023.

A crucial measurement of a professional sports team's success is attendance. As the Nashville Stars continue the work to bring a Major League Baseball team to Nashville, they only need to look to their NHL, NFL, and MLS neighbors to see that Nashville's fans are active supporters of all our pro?teams.?

The Nashville Predators may have missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years this season, but the fans still filled Bridgestone Arena, catfish in hand, making it one of the best venues for a game ... and one of the toughest places for a visiting team to play.?Two months into the season, Nashville ranked 2nd in the league in attendance as a percentage of capacity (100.9%), one of just four teams in the league to exceed the 100% threshold at that point in the season.

And when considering franchise revenue, the Predators have likewise experienced quite a remarkable growth. The team’s seasonal revenue grew by more than 44% from 2005-06 to 2011-12. And after a labor dispute shortened the 2012-13 season, the Predators picked up right where they had left off before the lockout, as their revenue jumped from $98 million in the 2013-14 season to $135 million in 2018-19. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop the team’s growth either, as the Predators rebounded extremely well in the 2021-22 season with a franchise-record revenue total of $169 million.

But that’s not all.?Just across the Cumberland River, fans have embraced the "Titan Up" mentality for years.?From 2008 through 2022, the Tennessee Titans averaged full sellout-level attendance in seven of the 14 seasons (excluding the 2020 season when minimal attendance was permitted). Of the seven remaining seasons, five still saw?attendance?grow?from the previous year.?

And when examining the most recently established franchise, the sustained levels of interest continue to shine through. Geodis Park is home to impassioned fans who have filled the largest soccer-only stadium in America to near-capacity levels ever since its opening.?

After Nashville SC joined the MLS in 2020, the club grew its attendance by nearly 44% from 2021 to 2022, finishing 4th in the 28-team league in average attendance (27,554). So far this season, the club has kept that pace, staying on par with its 2022 attendance figures one-quarter of the way into the campaign.

Need another example of the passion of baseball fans in Nashville? Just look at the Sounds, who had the highest attendance in Minor League Baseball last year, with a full-season attendance total of 555,576!?

The evidence is visible in every filled seat in Nashville's sports venues, and the Stars look forward to filling their stands when they get ready to take the field.