NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s average attendance rose 1.8 percent this year to its highest level since 2008.

The 30 teams averaged 30,895 fans per game, the commissioner’s office said Thursday, up from 30,362 last season. Baseball’s average peaked at 32,785 in 2007, then dropped slightly the following year before bottoming out at 30,330 as the Great Recession was coming to an end.

This year had the seventh-highest average behind 1993-94 and 2005-08. The total of 74.86 million was baseball’s fifth-highest.

Philadelphia led MLB for the second straight year at 3.57 million, and the Yankees topped the AL at 3.54 million.

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