The Phils ended up being utterly average on the field of play, but fan interest returned this season after a seven-year slog of apathy.

Via Rob Tornoe over at the Inquirer:

Over the 153 games that aired locally, the Phillies averaged a 4.25 household rating (about 119,700 households), a 21 percent increase over 2018. But the ratings were largely powered by a strong start fueled by interest in newly acquired slugger Bryce Harper, and not surprisingly, began to drop as the team fell out of contention for the playoffs.

Over the first two months of the season, the Phillies were averaging a 4.6 household rating (about 129,600 households) locally. By the All-Star break, that number had already dipped to a 4.4 rating (about 123,900 households).

The same goes for attendance. The Phillies averaged over 33,672 fans per game at Citizens Bank Park this season, the highest number since 2013. Over the team’s first 31 home games, the Phillies averaged 35,396 fans per game, average attendance dipped all the way down to 29,564 over their last 15 games.

No surprise there, the dropoff. According to ESPN numbers, Citizens Bank Park had the 10th highest average attendance among MLB ballparks this season, with that 33,672 number resulting in a 43,000 capacity stadium being about 78% full.

Here’s another blurb via the Philadelphia Business Journal:

Phillies Postgame Live averaged a 1.37 rating, its best performance since the 2013 season. Fans streaming the Phillies through NBCSports.com/Philadelphia and the MyTeams app are averaging 17,000 uniques and 733,000 minutes per game, up 133% and 72% respectively

So the interest is there. People want to support the Phils. They want winners, as Mike Singletary once said. Fans definitely checked out down the stretch though, so we’ll see if a possible coaching change and/or new offseason additions get the needle moving again.