Attendance up, game time down in record-setting '23 season

The average MLB time of game is way down in 2023 -- and attendance is way up.

On Monday, Major League Baseball released its game times and attendance numbers for the 2023 regular season -- with its new rules aimed at increasing the action on the field and generating a faster pace of play -- and the results are striking.

The average time of a nine-inning MLB game in 2023 was just under 2 hours and 40 minutes, the league's fastest time of game in nearly 40 years.

And MLB finished the regular season with a total attendance of 70,747,365. It's the first time MLB's paid attendance has broken the 70 million mark since 2017.

Here's a look at MLB's game times and attendance for the 2023 season.

TIME OF GAME

Games were 24 minutes shorter in 2023 than they were in 2022, when the average time of game was 3 hours and 4 minutes. And games were a full 30 minutes shorter than they were in 2021, when the average time of a game was over 3 hours and 10 minutes.

The average MLB game time also dropped under 3 hours for the first time since 2015 -- and not just under 3 hours, but well under 3 hours.

MLB average time of game by season
9-inning games only
2015 -- 2:56:14
2016 -- 3:00:42
2017 -- 3:05:11
2018 -- 3:00:44
2019 -- 3:05:35
2020 -- 3:07:46
2021 -- 3:10:07
2022 -- 3:03:44
2023 -- 2:39:49

The average nine-inning MLB game was the shortest it's been in 38 years, since 1985 (2:40). And the last time the average game was faster than in 2023 was in 1984 (2:35).

Only nine games this season lasted 3 1/2 hours or longer. Just two years ago, there were 390 games that lasted 3 1/2 hours or longer, the most in a season in MLB history.

Along with faster games came more scoring and action. Runs scored and stolen bases, for example, both jumped in 2023.

Increased action in 2023
• Runs per game: 8.6 in 2022, 9.2 in 2023
• SB attempts per game: 1.4 in 2022, 1.8 in 2023
• SB per game: 1.0 in 2022, 1.4 in 2023
• SB success rate: 75.4% in 2022, 80.2% in 2023 (all-time best)

ATTENDANCE

The increase in MLB's total attendance in 2023 is the largest growth for a non-COVID-impacted year since the league expanded to 30 teams in 1998.

The total attendance of 70,747,365 in 2023 was a gain of over 6 million fans from 2022, when total attendance was 64,556,658. That's a 9.6% increase in total attendance for MLB games.

MLB total attendance by season
Non-COVID-impacted seasons
2017 -- 72,678,797
2018 -- 69,671,272
2019 -- 68,506,896
2022 -- 64,556,658
2023 -- 70,747,365

And the growth in fans per game was just as significant. MLB attendance per game in 2023 was 29,295, compared to 26,843 per game in 2022.

That 9.1% increase in per-game attendance was the largest in 30 years, going all the way back to MLB's expansion to 28 teams in 1993 (again, not counting COVID-impacted seasons).

The 2023 season included 17 teams recording an attendance of over 2.5 million, tied for the most in a season in MLB history. The Dodgers, Padres, Yankees, Cardinals, Braves, Phillies, Astros and Blue Jays all drew over 3 million fans -- the first time in 10 years that eight clubs broke the 3 million mark for season attendance.

The attendance gains across the Major Leagues were highlighted by 11 weekends that drew more than 1.5 million fans in attendance, the most for a season since 2017. There were only five such weekends across the previous four full seasons combined (2018, '19, '21 and '22).

In total, 26 of the 30 MLB teams, more than 86% of the league, saw their attendance increase from 2022 to 2023.