The economics of the 2023 world series

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Summary

The Texas Rangers will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series. The Rangers and Diamondbacks defied the odds throughout the playoffs, mostly recently conquering the mighty Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, the two teams who competed for Commissioner's Trophy last season in 2022. The World Series will kick off tonight at Globe Life Field in Dallas-Fort Worth, where the Rangers call home. The series will then move to Chase Field in Phoenix for games three and four. The Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix metro areas are no stranger to economic success. Both rank among the fastest growing economies in the nation and are two of the driving forces behind the rapidly growing Sun Belt region.

119th World Series Caps Off a Season of Change

The Fall Classic is back, this time pitting the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks against the American League's Texas Rangers. It is an unlikely matchup, and each team took a similar path to get here. Both teams are only two years removed from 100-loss seasons and neither made the playoffs in 2022. After a strong start to the regular season, both squads faltered down the stretch and slipped into the playoffs as wild cards. The 2023 World Series marks only the third time in history that two wild card teams have met in the final. The previous instances were Anaheim and San Francisco in 2002 and San Francisco and Kansas City in 2014. The newfound success of wild card teams is just one aspect of Major League Baseball's ongoing rules revolution.

This year marks the second playoffs in which three wild card slots are awarded to each conference, and the result has been a slew of exciting upsets and unpredictable matchups. The league also made several adjustments to game rules this season, most notably adopting a pitching clock to speed up games and limiting the number of pickoffs a pitcher can attempt. The effects have been transformative, with the average MLB game clocking in at just 2 hours and 40 minutes this season, a full 24 minutes shorter than in the 2022 season. In addition to condensed time frames, games have also been higher scoring this season. Limits on defensive shifts now requires a minimum of four players on the infield, encouraging more balls in play. The size of bases has also been increased to encourage stealing bases and more aggressive offense. The result has been an increase to 9.2 runs scored per game in 2023, up from 8.6 runs in 2022.

Fans generally have responded positively to the new rules, and attendance has jumped across the league. Total regular season attendance topped 70 million in 2023, an increase of over 6 millions fans from 2022 (chart). Per-game attendance increased 9.1% year-over-year to hit 29,295, the largest increase in 30 years. Post-pandemic, American consumers appear hungry for experiences and entertainment. According to the BLS, prices for admissions to sporting events were up 18.9% year-over-year in September (chart), in part reflecting strong demand for live events as well as increasingly limited available seats. Historically, professional baseball tickets have been priced lower compared to other sporting events. According to a 2023 report from USA Today, the average price for the least expensive ticket in MLB was just $11. In an economy where the "get-in" price for events is skyrocketing, baseball still appears to be an affordable alternative for consumers looking to have a day out.

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Wells Fargo Research Team

Wells Fargo

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