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Attendance Figures of NPB (Japan Professional Baseball) by Year

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) releases the total attendance of baseball games every year. The following table shows the total attendance of NPB games from 1950 to 2013.

Figure : Average attendance of a baseball game by year

f:id:nbakki:20140930172727j:plain

  Pacific League Central League
Year Number of games Total Attendance Average Attendance Number of games Total Attendance Average Attendance
1950 420 1,744,200 4,200 553 2,462,000 4,452
1951 358 1,414,600 3,950 386 2,248,000 5,824
1952 403 2,284,100 5,668 420 2,901,829 6,909
1953 420 3,475,700 8,275 385 3,578,573 9,295
1954 560 3,490,930 6,234 390 4,105,108 10,526
1955 569 3,095,600 5,440 390 4,217,118 10,813
1956 616 3,050,340 4,950 390 4,486,886 11,505
1957 462 2,891,700 6,259 390 5,467,900 14,020
1958 390 3,585,100 9,190 390 5,299,100 13,587
1959 408 3,729,916 9,142 390 4,769,065 12,228
1960 402 2,800,302 6,966 390 5,304,159 13,600
1961 420 3,476,790 8,278 390 5,241,800 13,441
1962 398 3,894,277 9,785 401 5,706,009 14,229
1963 450 3,847,918 8,551 420 5,883,375 14,008
1964 450 3,418,935 7,598 420 6,270,820 14,931
1965 420 2,501,361 5,956 420 6,251,500 14,885
1966 404 2,709,571 6,707 401 6,108,850 15,234
1967 405 2,744,593 6,777 406 5,610,150 13,818
1968 406 2,847,350 7,013 401 6,069,900 15,137
1969 390 3,018,472 7,700 390 6,578,400 16,868
1970 390 3,038,530 7,800 390 6,542,750 16,776
1971 390 2,595,900 6,700 390 6,021,200 15,439
1972 390 2,539,800 6,500 390 6,195,500 15,886
1973 390 4,060,200 10,400 390 7,650,800 19,617
1974 390 3,501,300 9,000 390 7,595,200 19,475
1975 390 3,201,900 8,200 390 9,479,500 24,306
1976 390 3,344,600 8,600 390 9,070,000 23,256
1977 390 4,114,000 10,500 390 9,114,000 23,369
1978 390 4,114,500 10,600 390 9,988,000 25,610
1979 390 5,220,000 13,400 390 10,752,000 27,569
1980 390 5,797,500 14,900 390 10,322,000 26,467
1981 390 5,546,300 14,200 390 10,110,000 25,923
1982 390 4,817,200 12,400 390 10,928,500 28,022
1983 390 4,991,000 12,800 390 10,477,000 26,864
1984 390 5,162,300 13,200 390 11,010,000 28,231
1985 390 4,727,500 12,100 390 11,413,500 29,265
1986 390 6,323,700 16,200 390 11,367,000 29,146
1987 390 6,947,000 17,800 390 12,061,500 30,927
1988 390 8,271,500 21,200 390 12,239,000 31,382
1989 390 8,768,000 22,500 390 12,048,500 30,894
1990 390 8,609,000 22,100 393 12,020,000 30,585
1991 390 9,474,000 24,300 393 12,391,000 31,529
1992 390 9,522,000 24,400 392 13,841,000 35,309
1993 390 9,291,000 23,800 394 13,440,000 34,112
1994 390 9,560,000 24,500 390 13,140,000 33,692
1995 390 9,646,000 24,700 391 12,345,000 31,573
1996 390 8,877,000 22,800 390 12,223,000 31,341
1997 405 10,012,500 24,700 407 13,483,500 33,129
1998 405 8,660,500 21,400 406 13,004,000 32,030
1999 405 9,071,000 22,400 405 13,339,500 32,937
2000 405 9,567,500 23,600 407 12,873,500 31,630
2001 420 10,124,000 24,100 420 12,799,500 30,475
2002 420 9,709,000 23,100 420 13,243,500 31,532
2003 420 10,144,000 24,200 420 13,520,500 32,192
2004 399 10,684,000 26,800 414 13,770,000 33,261
2005 408 8,252,042 20,226 438 11,672,571 26,650
2006 408 8,529,281 20,905 438 11,877,677 27,118
2007 432 9,046,670 20,941 432 12,140,359 28,103
2008 432 9,555,016 22,118 432 12,083,181 27,970
2009 432 9,707,451 22,471 432 12,692,228 29,380
2010 432 9,832,981 22,762 432 12,308,022 28,491
2011 432 9,777,852 22,634 432 11,792,344 27,297
2012 432 9,579,690 22,175 432 11,790,536 27,293
2013 432 9,845,482 22,790 432 12,202,009 28,245

NPB changed their counting method in 2005. Since then, the numbers have dropped. In the present days, the figure means the number of sold tickets. So it includes someone who did not show up at the game in despite of having a ticket.

It is widely believed these figures are watered numbers. It means that the number of actual attendees was less than the record. Each host team reports the fake number to pretend they are popular.

The game's attendance figure is announced in the stadium during the game. Some fan laugh at the exaggerated number when they heard it. "I can't see one third of them."

Source is Nippon Professional Baseball.

www.npb.or.jp/statistics/

 

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