Box-office magic

The Colorado Rockies have a winning formula.

Not on the field — definitely not there — but at the box office. The Rockies drew more than 2.5 million fans in 2024, despite posting a triple-digit loss total for the second consecutive year.

That’s an exceptional level of fan support — the best, in fact, in the major leagues.

I’ve devised a formula that predicts the attendance that a club should draw, based on its wins and losses.

Colorado’s miserable 61-101 record translated to a “target” attendance of 1,791,814. The club actually drew 2,540,195 to Coors Field, exceeding the target by 41.8 percent. No other big-league club did better.

Each team’s box-office performance has been plotted against my fan support index (FSI), which establishes 100 points as the norm. Colorado’s FSI for 2024 was 141.8, matching the percentage by which it bettered its target.

Sixteen clubs posted positive indexes during the recent season. Here’s a list, with home attendance in parentheses, followed by FSI. Clubs that made the playoffs are designated by asterisks:

• 1. Colorado Rockies (2,540,195), FSI 141.8

• 2. Los Angeles Angels (2,577,597), FSI 139.3

• 3. Los Angeles Dodgers* (3,941,251), FSI 136.9

• 4. Toronto Blue Jays (2,681,236), FSI 123.4

• 5. San Diego Padres* (3,330,545), FSI 121.9

• 6. Philadelphia Phillies* (3,363,712), FSI 120.5

• 7. New York Yankees* (3,309,838), FSI 119.9

• 8. Chicago Cubs (2,909,755), FSI 119.3

• 9. St. Louis Cardinals (2,878,115), FSI 118.1

• 10. Texas Rangers (2,651,553), FSI 115.7

• 11. Atlanta Braves* (3,011,755), FSI 115.2

• 12. Chicago White Sox (1,380,733), FSI 114.6

• 13. San Francisco Giants (2,647,736), FSI 112.7

• 14. Boston Red Sox (2,659,949), FSI 111.8

• 15. Houston Astros* (2,835,234), FSI 109.7

• 16. Seattle Mariners (2,555,813), FSI 102.4

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The other 14 clubs fell below 100 on the FSI scale, indicating that they drew fewer fans than their records warranted.

The Athletics finished dead last in their final season in Oakland. Home attendance for the A’s totaled 922,286, which was 54.5 percent below their target of 2,026,806. The resulting FSI of 45.5 was easily the worst in the majors.

A parenthetical note: Several sportswriters issued paeans to Oakland’s fans this year. I understand how anguishing it can be to lose a ballclub, but let’s get real. The A’s never received the backing they deserved. They hadn’t climbed as high as 100 points — the break-even point in the fan support index — since 1991.

Here are the 14 teams that should have fared better at the box office in 2024:

• 1. Oakland Athletics (922,286), FSI 45.5

• 2. Tampa Bay Rays (1,337,739), FSI 56.9

• 3. Miami Marlins (1,087,455), FSI 59.7

• 4. Kansas City Royals* (1,658,347), FSI 65.6

• 5. Detroit Tigers* (1,858,295), FSI 73.6

• 6. Cleveland Guardians* (2,056,264), FSI 76.1

• 7. Pittsburgh Pirates (1,720,361), FSI 77.1

• 8. Minnesota Twins (1,951,616), FSI 81.0

• 9. Baltimore Orioles* (2,281,129), FSI 85.3

• 10. New York Mets* (2,329,299), FSI 89.1

• 11. Cincinnati Reds (2,024,178), FSI 89.5

• 12. Arizona Diamondbacks (2,341,876), FSI 89.6

• 13. Milwaukee Brewers* (2,537,202), FSI 92.9

• 14. Washington Nationals (1,967,302), FSI 94.3