Ballpark Seating Capacity

So the new Rangers Ballpark for 2020 is breaking ground next week.  They announced the seating capacity being between 41 & 42,000.  I’ve seen a lot of fans get mad about that given the capacity of the current park is about 49,500.   I want to examine that irritation and what the reality of ballpark seating capacity has been since our place opened in 1994.

Here’s the numbers for every new ballpark that opened since ours in 1994, which covers the last 22 years.

1994 – The Ballpark in Arlington – 48,114 (Later updated to 49,115)
1994 – Progressive Field – 35,225
1995 – Coors Field – 50,398
1996 – Turner Field – 49,586
1998 – Chase Field – 48,519
1999 – Safeco Field – 47,963
2000 – AT&T Park – 41,915
2000 – Minute Maid Park – 41,676
2001 – Miller Park – 41,900
2001 – PNC Park – 38,362
2003 – Great American Ball Park – 42,319
2004 – Citizens Bank Park – 43,651
2004 – Petco Park – 40,162
2006 – Busch Stadium – 43,975
2008 – Nationals Park – 41,313
2009 – Citi Field – 41,922
2009 – New Yankee Stadium – 49,642
2010 – Target Field – 38,871
2012 – Marlins Park – 36,742
2017 – SunTrust Park – 41,149
2020 – Globe Life Field – 41-42k (Final number not yet)

Take a look and notice the trend – after 1999, only ONE ballpark opened with a capacity north of 45,000. That was the Yankees. The trend over the last 15 years (covering 13 ballparks) is DOWN.

Baseball stadiums since this time have been moving towards more cozy places.

For those who say “build it, and they will come”.. Well, they built our ballpark now and take a look at the attendance. There’s a lot of empty seats. They’re looking to combat that, I’m sure.  I mean look at the ballpark now – Sections 301-306 are almost always empty, and nobody sits there unless it’s opening day or the playoffs.

Obviously, anything can change, but I wanted to take a moment to point this out. I’ve seen a few people say “I’m not going to support it if it has less seats than the current place”. Seriously? I can’t see people sticking to that empty threat.