The Chicken or the Egg

First off I apologize for the hiatus, it has been an extremely busy month and a half for me. I'm delighted to see that many of you are continuing to check the site for postings on a daily basis (thanks mom), despite myself being totally non-existent and worthless. There's a ton of things I'd like to write about and over the next few weeks, I'm hoping to touch them all.

Today, I'd like to point out a positive. Despite the Royals being 10.5 games out of first and despite the team being on pace to win just 71 games and finish with the eight worst record in baseball, the team is on pace to finish very strong at the gate in 2012.

Through their first 40 games of the season, the Royals have averaged 23,878 fans per game. Compared with last year's average through 40 games (18,804), the Royals attendance per game is up 5,074. This means that if the Royals can keep this pace up throughout the remainder of the season, they will finish with an attendance 208,034 higher than 2011's total.

Should the Royals keep pace, they will finish the year with 1,934,118 in attendance. This mark would be the highest since 1993 and the fourteenth highest single season attendance mark in the franchise's history. If the Royals can somehow continue to push attendance higher and can average 25,485 fans for each of the last 41 games, the franchise will surpass the 2 million mark for the eleventh time in its history and the first time since 1991.

Obviously, the All-Star game has been a huge factor in the uptick in attendance. However, I think it is clear to all of those that know the fan base that with or without the All-Star game this summer attendance was going to rise. Kansas City is dying for a winner, and whether or not the #OurTime slogan was mistimed or not, fans wanted to buy in.

In sports, it seems there is often a chicken and the egg situation when it comes to attendance and payroll. Owners don't want to add payroll until they've seen attendance rise and can "afford" to do it. Fans don't want to attend a ton of games when it appears there is a lack of commitment at the top. Thanks to the All-Star game and a passionate fan base, it would seem that the egg has creeped into existence, now we just have to wait for the chicken to hatch.