Rob Manfred has a problem to sort out. The final attendance for this season reached 71,409,421. It marks the third straight year of attendance growth for the first time in 18 years (2005-2007). While surpassing the 70 million milestone consecutively is great, the divide between baseball’s top draws and its smaller-market teams has never felt wider. It’s very rare for a scrimmage game to overshadow a playoff, but that’s exactly what happened in the Philadelphia Phillies’ intra-squad game on Wednesday night.

Making the most of off-days between their final regular-season game and the NLDS, the Phillies conducted an intra-squad game at Citizens Bank Park. And Guess what?

They sold more than a whopping 31,000 tickets at $10 apiece. It’s more than 26,186 tickets the Cleveland Guardians sold for the AL wild card series game 1 against the Detroit Tigers. It’s beyond just an observation; It’s a major crisis instead where smaller market teams are losing the battle for fans for a practice game.

The widening gap between the league’s top teams and the rest is glaring. Franchises like the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, and Red Sox consistently draw crowds, even when they’re losing terribly.

On the other hand, teams such as the Brewers and Guardians can barely keep up—so much so that Cleveland’s Wild Card opener couldn’t even outdraw a Phillies practice game.

There’s no question that the Phillies game delivered everything. From real umpires to walk-up music and thousands of engaged fans, that scrimmage game gave fans the look and feel of a legitimate game. “We wanted to do it last year, but it was too late to pull everything together. This year we got ahead of it. Great response from our fan base … a lot of money going to charity, so it’s for a good cause. And hopefully it helps the players.” HC Rob Thomson said. Apparently, all that came from ticket sales revenue went straight to the club’s charity.

Still, the Guardians, who sold 26,186 in game 1, sold 26,659 tickets in game 2—that’s still less than the Phillies’ 31,000 sold tickets. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to draw 4 million in attendance this season since the Yankees and Mets both did it in 2008. Although Rob Manfred has a lot on his plate at the moment, one of his chief anxieties, apparently, has always been attendance.

Other factors why Phillies sold more tickets than the Guardians-Tigers AL Wild Card game

The most obvious factor is the big price difference. The Phillies’ intra-squad tickets only cost $10 each. Well, it wasn’t an official game, but it was still very cheap to get a major league game experience at Citizens Bank Park.

The postseason tickets can get very expensive and even the cheapest ticket for Guardians-Tigers is noticeably more than the Phillies ticket. Next up, it’s the timings. While the Phillies commenced their game at 6:00 PM ET, the Guardians and Tigers’ AL Wild wildcard series game started at 1:08 PM ET.

For the Guardians-Tigers game, the attendees would practically need to take time off work to make it to the ballpark. Meanwhile, Phillies supporters could simply drive over and enjoy the free parking in order to catch one last game before the postseason begins.

Had the Guardians game been scheduled a bit later, like the Phillies game, it likely would have sold significantly more tickets. The Guardians, who lost the game 1 bouncer to secure the game 2, forcing a winner-takes-all showdown on Thursday.

The noticeable difference in tickets sold is massive, but all the other factors are in play, too. Such as the timing, price, and convenience—all of these play a role for fans. The Phillies game was cheaper, at a better time, and slightly more accessible for the fans.