Television ratings for Kansas City Royals games have jumped since All-Star break

The Royals’ record sunk to 20 games below .500 by the end of June, which would seem to be reason for fans to tune out for the rest of the season. But that hasn’t been the case.

Bally Sports Kansas City reports a 6% increase in viewership since the All-Star Game in mid-July.

Shortly after the Midsummer Classic, the Royals traded a trio of veteran players (Andrew Benintendi, Whit Merrifield and Cam Gallagher) and brought up more young players from the minor leagues.

They joined rookies Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez and Vinnie Pasquantino (whose spot on KC’s roster opened up when Carlos Santana was traded to Seattle).

The Royals have gotten a boost from the young guys. They are 8-6 in August (through Sunday) and finished an 11-game homestand Sunday with a 7-4 record, their most wins in a homestand since going 7-1 from Aug. 24-Sept. 2, 2018. The Royals haven’t had a losing homestand since the end of June.

Bally Sports KC, citing Nielsen numbers, said Royals telecasts are averaging 40,000 Kansas City-area households per game (that’s 40,000 households tuned in at any given time). That number also represents an increase of 6% over the 2021 season.

Viewership has climbed this month, as evidenced by a pair of examples.

A four-game series against the Red Sox averaged 47,000 households, while a game against the White Sox in Chicago averaged 57,000.

Royals games are No. 1 in prime time in the KC market during baseball season, averaging 45,000 households. That’s 61% higher than the prime time average for the second-place network in Kansas City.

The Royals’ local TV ratings rank sixth in Major League Baseball.