Royals Break Ticket-Sales Record For FanFest, Expect Walk-Up Boost

The Royals sold 14,000 tickets in presales for this weekend's annual FanFest, with walk-up totals "still to come." The pre-sale figure alone represents "about 3,000 more than their previous high for an entire weekend." The team "figured that final ticket sales of 18,000 was a realistic expectation, with 20,000 as an outside hope." Last year's event drew "only 11,000 fans." But after a run to the World Series, the line to enter this year's event at Bartle Hall "snaked through the building’s lobby, and outside, stretching well down the sidewalk" (K.C. STAR, 1/31).

Meanwhile, Royals radio play-by-play announcer Denny Matthews, who has served as the team's broadcaster since its establishment in '69, "has agreed to a four-year contract extension." The new deal, which was announced yesterday during the final day of the FanFest, "will keep Matthews with the Royals through their, and Matthews’, 50th season" in '18 (K.C. STAR, 2/1).