(USA TODAY) — Inspired by baseball's opening day, analysts at ConvergEX Group found an interesting correlation that both Fantasy Baseball fans and Wall Street traders can appreciate: History shows Major League Baseball attendance mirrors consumer confidence.
So if MLB Commissioner Bud Selig's prediction proves correct, we should be in for a continued modest economic recovery this year. Selig said total attendance will be up about 3% to 5%, according to Sports Business Daily.
"Declining since 2007, attendance is a sound representation of the still sluggish economy, since it is measured over a lengthy season and includes a broad national sample," wrote Beth Reed and Nicholas Colas of ConvergEx. "Last season, average game attendance across the league was 30,344, which was up 0.7% from the prior year, but still shy of the all-time high average of 32,770 set in 2007."
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