Major league attendance on a record pace, up 11.4 percent from last season

Major league baseball has been a hit at the ticket window this season.

The average crowd of 29,906 reflects an 11.4 percent increase over last year’s 26,842 average through the first 1,222 games, according to USA Today research of published box scores.

“If this pace continues, and I have every reason to think it will with all the tight races and the parity we now have, we’re going to set an all-time attendance record,” Commissioner Bud Selig said Wednesday. “When you consider it’s July 7 and we’re already almost over 37 million fans, it’s stunning.”

Baseball is positioned to surpass the 72.6 million fans that comprised a record attendance total in 2000, when half of the interleague schedule was played after the All-Star break.

Although interleague games are over for this year, their appeal was evident in averaging 32,976, a 6.7 percent increase over last year’s 30,894 average. Unlike 2000, attendance won’t get an interleague boost after the break, but baseball hopes to maintain momentum.

Attendance for non-interleague games is up 12.9 percent, from 25,800 last year to 29,117 this year through the first 1,222 games. A big turnout in April got the ball rolling. The average crowd of 28,906 in April was up 19.1 percent over last year’s 24,272 average for the month.

Selig attributes the attendance boost, in part, to new ballparks in Philadelphia and San Diego as well as the game’s afterglow following last year’s playoffs and World Series. The defending world champion Florida Marlins have benefited, drawing 22,016 a game compared with 12,926 last year. The 70 percent increase is the biggest among the 30 teams.