By Gabriel Araujo
KANSAS CITY, Missouri, July 2 (Reuters) – World Cup fans making their way into Kansas City’s match venue are met right across the parking lot by an unmistakable reminder of a U.S. sporting tradition: Kauffman Stadium, the home of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals.
With the World Cup drawing global crowds, MLB has emerged as the only major U.S. league in season throughout the tournament, offering visiting supporters a ready-made taste of local sports culture.
Teams are keen to seize the moment, even if turning a World Cup-driven spike in curiosity into lasting fandom may prove challenging in a sport with a very different pace from soccer.
“We want to open our doors to the world,” the Royals’ president of business operations, Cullen Maxey, told Reuters.
“We share the parking lot, so naturally we should be able to lean in on that a little bit and invite people to Royals games,” he said. “We think that gives everybody a really unique opportunity to get a little taste of America.”
With the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup wrapping up just as the World Cup kicked off and the NFL season not starting until September, baseball has been the best way for soccer fans and team members to sample U.S. sports.
All 11 U.S. World Cup host cities have MLB teams, and Kansas City has become a clear example of that crossover.
PLAYERS, COACHES, FANS VISIT BALLPARKS
England captain Harry Kane and several of his teammates took in a Royals game during the group stage, with coach Thomas Tuchel throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
“He had a pretty good throw. I want to say he’s got baseball in his future if he wants to,” Maxey joked.
“It was amazing for everybody to have them out here and be a part of our game.
“I think what the England players enjoyed most was talking to our players. They’re professional athletes, they’re at the top of their game, so those relationships probably mean more to them than anything else,” he added.
Kane, more accustomed to scoring goals than watching nine innings unfold, acknowledged baseball’s appeal, saying that while he does not follow the regular season closely, he enjoys the game and has been to a couple of ballparks.
The Royals have not been alone.
In New York, Norwegian fans made their presence felt at a Mets game.
In Boston, almost 1,000 Germany fans attended a match between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees, days after Scotland supporters swapped soccer for baseball there, marching to Fenway Park and celebrating alongside Red Sox fans.
The Scots also took in a Miami Marlins game in Florida.
ENDURING ATTRACTION?
For many visitors, however, the attraction is as much cultural as sporting, pointing to the challenge MLB faces in turning a one-off visit into sustained interest.
Former Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins player Andre Rienzo, the first Brazilian-born player to pitch in MLB, said baseball’s appeal was not always immediately obvious in soccer-obsessed countries like his own.
“If you read a book about the rules, you don’t understand anything,” Rienzo told Reuters. “You need to go to the game, be with someone, understand it play by play.”
In attendance at a Royals game, Argentine-born Javier Lanza said his visit was more about the experience than the game itself, conceding that while he understood the sport, many of his friends going to ballparks did not.
His countryman Giuliano Jorge added: “I prefer the NBA, but it’s kind of about the experience. I’d never been (to a baseball game) before, and since I’m in the U.S., I couldn’t pass up the chance to come.”
Rienzo said newcomers should try and look beyond the slower pace that can initially put off fans used to the near-constant action of soccer, enjoying the atmosphere and giving the game a chance even if it feels boring at first.
Maxey seemed convinced interest could be sustained as soccer fans become more familiar with the sport.
“It’s an inviting atmosphere,” the Royals executive said. “If you don’t know soccer, you don’t understand the beauty of the sport. If you don’t know baseball, you don’t understand the beauty of the sport.”
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, Iain Axon and Sebastian Rocandio, editing by Ed Osmond)
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