Royal or Jack as spectator

As a spectator that has been to both I would recommend the Royal. There is nothing like seeing 500 teams in one area...

Stop by my house, pick me up and we will go the the Royal :-D.

I haven't been to the Jack, but the Royal is an experience. Not to mention, a great opportunity to meet many Brethren, including Phil.

The Royal has a lot goin' on...especially on Friday Night when it's non-stop party town on the dark side! The Jack is more about tradition and enjoying the local area. If you want a party...go to the Royal...if you want to chill...go to the Jack!

As a fan/spectator the Royal would definately be the place to go. You have the parties on the dark side Friday night. You have the building where you can look at cookers, buy Rubs, sauces, about anything BBQ. Then you have the bands playing on Friday and Saturday night. Plus like mentioned above you can walk around and meet a lot of teams and see there setups. There has also been a big poker tournament one evening, if you like that. Not sure if there doing that this year. Its great as far as I'm concerned.

The Jack is an experience but not the festivities of the Royal. Neat to be able to walk around and meet the teams, especially the foriegn teams. If you can get a ticket to join the party for the teams up on the hill thats a great experience. I think they only give them to teams now though so there hard to get. Way more of a relaxed atmosphere though.

Anyway my choice is the Royal. I will be there this year.

I've not been to the Jack yet, but the Royal is definitely a place/event to see. As mentioned above - Friday evening is CRAZY with parties on the dark side, while during the day there is LOTS to see and do - especially in the vendors building. Some awesome food to be had also.
It is truly something to walk around and see over 500 teams set up with all the different types of smokers and site set-ups! If you get the chance, take the "site tour" on Friday afternoon. You get to meet and talk with several teams and sample their wares (free event to get to see what goes inside the sites). Definitely worth the time!
I judged on Saturday and Sunday, but still it was great to just be there!
Got there on Thursday and left on Monday.
I'll be back again this October!!! Can't wait!!!

The poker tournament is going on again this year. I only know because my buddy finished second last year, and was asking the other day if it was, and if I'd play in it again this year with him. Word of advice, they are good at hustlin' some money out of ya. It's for a good cause, so I don't mind, but last year I ended up spending roughly 4x the buy-in before I was done (which just meant I was that much more determined to get my money's worth in free beer).

I would also recommend the site tour. We hosted some tour groups last year on Friday (and Saturday, I believe), and they were awesome. As a team, I enjoyed interacting with the tourist, as well, so I think we might do it again this year.

I've never been to the Jack, but I can't imagine it being more fun than the Royal. I'm sure it's great in its own right, though.

Having cooked both I would say you will enjoy the American Royal more as a spectator.

The Jack is nice...but the Royal is a experience!
Lynchburg is a dry town so it's not quite the "party" that the Royal is...

Never been to the Jack but the Royal on Friday night is a great time.