Last year on the 4th of July, I went to see the Kansas City Royals play baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays were in town, and the team was 48-40 and in hot pursuit of a Wild Card spot. With fireworks after the game, a big crowd showed up: an announced attendance of 28,358, to that point the third-highest attended game of the season.
In line for the security to get into the game, I heard chatter from around me. The folks behind me were talking about how they hadn’t been to a Royals game in years. Some other people next to them mentioned the same—that they hadn’t been to a game since 2016 and were excited that the Royals were good again.
So, how did the Royals do in this contest? The pitching stunk to high heaven. The Rays scored the first four runs of the game. Though Kansas City’s offense kept poking their way back, the closest they got to tying the game was to get within two runs of Tampa Bay. The crowd desperately wanted to let loose and cheer in a big moment. The big moment didn’t happen. The Rays won 10-8.
Now, I am under no pretenses that there is something magical about winning certain games. Other than the playoffs, they all count the same. Additionally, way more people watch the Royals on television or on streaming than go to any individual game. I am also not saying that these Royals are big moment chokers, because they are very clearly not—the squad beat the Orioles in the playoffs twice in a row _in Baltimore_ and carried the AL champion Yankees to four games last year.
But there is a trend, and it sucks, and I do think that it is getting in the way of even more people jumping on the bandwagon, and it is this: Kansas City keeps whiffing on prime opportunities to give home crowds moments to remember and to continue to build a fandom.
Yesterday, the Royals lost Opening Day in a [wildly frustrating fashion](https://www.royalsreview.com/2025/3/28/24394895/royals-opening-day-2025-review). It was their third consecutive Opening Day loss. In those three years, the Royals have played 15 total games—including a pair of playoff contests—with 28,000 or more attendees at Kauffman Stadium. They have lost a whopping 12 of them, including both playoff games. More broadly, the Royals have lost nine games in a row (9!) at Kauffman Stadium dating back to last September, and have scored less than two runs per game over that span.
The Royals are much better set up for future success than a lot of small market teams, but they’re in a precarious position. The Current have been a revelation, an exciting soccer team to watch that’s pulling in an impressively diverse fan demographic. And the Chiefs are a juggernaut with the two most famous football players on the planet. Competition is harder.
Royals players know this, too. [Bobby Witt Jr. published a piece in The Player’s Tribune](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/bobby-witt-jr-mlb-kansas-city-royals-baseball) that talks about his process, how he’s grown as a player, and what some of his wishes are for his career. In it, he specifically mentioned the Chiefs:
> I look across the street from our stadium and see what the Chiefs are doing, year in and year out. They’ve got that family atmosphere, and their silent assassin–type leader in Patrick Mahomes. And, like I said, I love all that. It’s been impressive to watch. But at the same time … let’s see, how do I put this….
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> The fans in KC have been leaning on the red and gold pretty heavy for a good long while now.
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> It’s time to get some Royal blue in the mix.
That the Royals have only fielded three playoff teams in the 40 seasons since Witt’s dad was himself an MLB rookie is not Witt’s fault. But building a reputation takes time, and the Royals have spent a lot of time building a reputation among the community that the team is usually bad.
Those of us who follow baseball closely know that’s changed. But the types of fans like the ones behind me last July—who haven’t been to a game in nearly 10 years, and who don’t know who’s on the team besides Witt and Salvador Perez—don’t know, and they are all over the place. I just wish the Royals could win more of these high-profile home games, and more home games in general. That’s it. It would help build momentum and excitement for the team in a tougher entertainment environment. And the team deserves all the love it can get.