AMC Theaters chief goes to bat for Kansas City Royals ahead of World Series

AMC Entertainment CEO Gerry Lopez went to bat for the Kansas City Royals Tuesday in a friendly exchange with a Wall Street analyst.

It came during a conference call with analysts after the Leawood-based company announced its third quarter results a few hours before game six of the World Series was to begin in Kansas City.

The first question came from Eric Wold, an analyst at B. Riley Co. – in San Francisco, home of the Giants who face the Royals.

“I was kind of hoping you’d reschedule the call for tomorrow night because there won’t be a game seven to distract us,” Wold said in a playful poke to kick off his inquiry that focused on AMC’s ability to gain moviegoers from rival chains.

A technical problem kept Lopez off the line for a short time. When he came back online, Wold spoke first.

“Did you hear the question or just the negative comment about the Royals,” he said.

“We heard both unfortunately,” Lopez answered. “I’ll answer the question first and leave the Royals thing until after the thing (World Series) is settled hopefully tomorrow night not tonight.”

Lopez then outlined how rivals’ efforts to copy AMC’s comfort and convenience strategy are falling short.

“Does that answer your question before I make a snide remark about the Giants,” Lopez said, earning some chuckles on the call.

After another business exchange, Lopez, who was to heading to Kauffman Stadium for the game, ended the encounter with a show of sportsmanship.

“Good luck tonight,” he said.

“Thank you,” Wold replied.

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 5:41 PM with the headline "AMC Theaters chief goes to bat for Kansas City Royals ahead of World Series."