The MLB Rangers still "hold down the American League’s No. 2 spot behind the Yankees in average attendance," but their numbers are "down more than 4,000 per game which means this team is on pace to hit three million again, but fall more than 300,000 short of last season’s total," according to Tim Cowlishaw of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The team in its just-completed 11-game homestand "topped the 40,000 mark twice." MLB attendance in large part "tends to reflect what happened the year before." Rangers management "does not appear to be alarmed despite the potential loss of 300,000 fans clicking through the turnstiles." Rangers President of Business Operations Rick George said, "My take is that 2012 was an anomaly. Very few teams ever get to 3.4 million. We were coming off two World Series trips. It’s better for us to compare this year with what we did in 2010 and 2011." The team "drew 2.5 million in 2010, and then fell just 54,000 short of three million in 2011." George believes that the team will "draw three million for the second time in 2013." He added, "We are trending downward, but we had two games with Tampa Bay where, with the rain, we had very little walk-up. Those set you back. The new norm for us is probably 2.8 to 3.2 (million). And I still believe we will get to three." Cowlishaw: "What I’m curious about is whether this year’s decline reflects disappointment in the loss of popular players like Mike Napoli, Michael Young and the previously popular [Josh] Hamilton? Or is it a general dissatisfaction with the way things ended last year and a belief that this team can do no better?" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/21).
