Dodgers Pass 4 Million Fans, Sphere Economics: Sporticast podcast

On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the Los Angeles Dodgers reaching 4 million fans over the course of the MLB regular season.

The Dodgers are the first baseball team to reach that milestone since the New York Yankees and New York Mets in 2008. The only other teams to do it were the Toronto Blue Jays (1991-93) and Colorado Rockies (1993). It’s an average of 49,537 fans per game, and strong show of ticket sales for MLB’s highest-revenue club. The Dodgers made $855 million in revenue in 2024, according to Sportico’s MLB valuations, more than the Yankees’ $799 million.

Here’s the catch: No other MLB team could hit that 4 million fan milestone currently. Dodger Stadium’s 56,000-seat capacity is the largest in MLB. The Yankees, Mets and Rockies are all in new stadiums, and the Blue Jays downsized their building last year. The second largest stadium in the league is in Arizona with a max capacity of about 48,300.

Next the hosts talk about the Sphere, the MSG-backed entertainment venue in Las Vegas. While sporting events like UFC and concert acts like U2 get a lot of attention, it’s the non-live shows that deliver most of the economics for the venue. The latest is an adaptation of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, which has generated more than $65 million in ticket sales through June. Plans for a Sphere in London have been scrapped, but the group plans to open one in UAE via a franchise model in the coming years.

The hosts close by discussing upheaval in college and junior hockey, where better development and new rules have changed recruiting and career paths for young prospects.

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