It’s time to settle this once and for all. We explored the data to determine the teams and players that can truly lay claim to the title of MLB’s most popular.
Research published in 2023 from Sports Betting New York found that the New York Yankees were the most-Googled Major League Baseball team in 16 different states — a total that more than doubled any other club. The Bronx Bombers also happen to lap the field in the valuation game; Forbes pegs them at $7.1 billion, an order of magnitude beyond the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ $4.8 billion.
But perhaps answering the question of who’s truly the biggest and/or most beloved MLB team in the land isn’t that simple.
We asked the same question about the NFL and discovered some intriguing insights. Some of them felt intuitive; others caught us off-guard. But what is immutably true is that these topics are awfully fun to argue, and we’re not about to deny ourselves a good time.
Based on both 2023 stadium attendance and market research from YouGov, here’s what we found regarding the most popular MLB teams and players here and now.
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Most Popular MLB Teams of 2023 by Attendance
Based on average attendance per home game for each team over the course of the 2023 regular season.
| RANK | TEAM | AVG. ATTENDANCE |
| 1 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 47,371 |
| 2 | New York Yankees | 40,862 |
| 3 | San Diego Padres | 40,389 |
| 4 | St. Louis Cardinals | 40,013 |
| 5 | Atlanta Braves | 39,401 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Phillies | 38,157 |
| 7 | Houston Astros | 37,683 |
| 8 | Toronto Blue Jays | 37,307 |
| 9 | Chicago Cubs | 34,261 |
| 10 | Seattle Mariners | 33,215 |
Most Popular MLB Teams by Fan Survey Results
Based on percentage of YouGov survey respondents who reported overall positive opinions of a given team as of Q3 2023.
| RANK | TEAM |
| 1 | Chicago Cubs |
| 2 | New York Yankees |
| 3 | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 4 | Chicago White Sox |
| t5 | Boston Red Sox |
| t5 | Atlanta Braves |
| t5 | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 8 | New York Mets |
| t9 | Houston Astros |
| t9 | Baltimore Orioles |
Top 10 Most Popular MLB Players
Based on percentage of YouGov survey respondents who reported overall positive opinions of a given player as of Q3 2023. Includes both active and retired athletes.
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 1 | Justin Verlander | Astros |
| 2 | Mookie Betts | Dodgers |
| t3 | Aaron Judge | Yankees |
| t3 | Mike Trout | Angels |
| t5 | Miguel Cabrera | Tigers |
| t5 | Evan Longoria | Diamondbacks |
| t7 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels |
| t7 | Ronald Acuña Jr. | Braves |
| t9 | Albert Pujols | Retired |
| t9 | Bryce Harper | Phillies |
| t9 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers |
| t9 | Andrew McCutchen | Pirates |
| t9 | Jason Heyward | Dodgers |
| t9 | Anthony Rizzo | Yankees |
| t9 | Cody Bellinger | Cubs |
| t9 | Justin Upton | Free agent |
| t9 | Brett Gardner | Retired |
