The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I mean....is it slowly dying; a sport for old people?

Sports radio barely even covers it.  The World Series isn't even the lead story on ESPN shows anymore.  I know that people must care, but nobody I interact with regularly (friends, at the office, etc) cares a lick about baseball.  Even my sports friends who I used to watch baseball with don't even turn on the World Series. 

I can't imagine not watching the Super Bowl, regardless of who is playing.

Could baseball be like boxing -- dying slowly and only something that older people care about?

I think other sports have become more popular, and there are so many other television viewing opportunities; and other entertainment in general.  Golf is more widely on TV than it was 20 yrs ago (thanks to TV), Basketball is on TV more (it used to be the first game of the year on TV would be Boston vs Lakers on Christmas), and I think Hockey will continue to increase thanks to Hi-Def.

The best thing for baseball would be to shorten the season by 2 months, start later and finish earlier; thereby keeping people more interested.  It would be tough to change though with the purists that want to maintain records.

I  try not to crap on baseball but I don't see the interest that it had years ago.

It is slowly dying. Mainly because, it's a very slow game with very little excitement. It needs to change. I don't know if I'd rather watch that, golf, or soccer.

This year's World Series television ratings are pretty low, between 10-12 million per game.  After last night, it'll go seven games.  So, for argument sake, let's call it 11 million per game. 

However, last time I checked, that is a cumulated audience of 77 million for the series.

77 million over seven games, watching a "dying" sport?  That's pretty good.  You won't find that many watching hockey, soccer, MMA, boxing.

Last year's World Series, between Boston and St. Louis averaged over 15 million per game (nationally) for a 10 share nationally.  Fox was very happy with the ratings.  The teams matter, unfortunately.  People can jump up and down and say they are sick of the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, etc all they want...but when major market teams aren't in the WS, the nation tunes out.  Even in a "tune out" year, a total of 77 million people will have watched, and gathered an 9 share.  If a "normal" TV show pulled those numbers it would be considered a juggernaut.

Some teams this season, like the Dodgers, knocked on four million in attendance.  FOUR MILLION.  FIVE teams had attendance over three million, Boston literally was just a shred under three million, and only five teams in the league had attendance under two million.

Ironically, one of those five teams was Kansas City.  Yo, KC...your team is in the World Series.  Thanks for coming out.

So, I'm not a statistical mastermind or anything, but 30 teams, 81 home games (or they are supposed to have 81 home games), each one pulling in millions...

That's a lot of effin' people who don't like the game.

Actually, it's the 7th highest gate total of all time.  73,739,622 total.

I'm thinking 73 million of those people aren't "old."  Just a thought.

Baseball is not "America's Sport."  It has never been.  It is "America's Past Time."  There is a huge difference.  Baseball has never been the type of game where you watch every single game with baited breath, hinged on every pitch.  That's the beauty of the game.  You have the game on the radio in the back ground while you play pass with your kids.  It's on the TV in the kitchen when you host folks on a lazy, hot summer day.  You catch as many games as you can make it to. 

The start of the season, August, and the end of the season - you pay closer attention (unless you're like me, then you pay closer attention all year). 

Baseball is the reliable friend, always there and willing to have a beer after a hard day work.  Turn on the radio, it's there.  Turn on the TV, it's there.  Maybe you drift off, watching the game.  Maybe you're riveted, glued to every pitch of an 11 inning slug fest. 

Baseball is not designed to be football, or hockey, or basketball.  And that's why baseball, in 2013, had 8 BILLION in total revenue in 2013.  One billion shy of the most coveted sport in the land, the NFL (which came in at 9 billion).

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

http://www.forbes.com/sites/monteburke/2013/08/17/how-the-national-football-league-can-reach-25-billion-in-annual-revenues/

Perhaps baseball is not on talk radio in Florida.  Why would it be?  The Marlins and Rays were in the bottom five in attendance, and always are.  Florida is not a baseball market, outside of spring training.  It just isn't.  The beauty of the internet, however, is this:  You have the ability to run in to other markets.  Tune in to Chicago.  Detroit.  Boston.  New York.  I have WEEI on right now.  While I typed this they spoke about two things:

Manning / Brady this weekend.

And the Red Sox.  Should they re-sign Lester?  Trade for Hamels?  What was the point of trading Lester, if you're just going to commit to Hamels?  What to do with Cespedes now that he signed with Jay-Z's outfit?

The Pats are playing the Broncos this weekend...and they just spoke about the Sox for about 20 straight minutes.  This, after the Bruins blew a two goal lead last night and lost to the Wild, and the Celtics season opener is tonight.

You don't think WFAN is talking about the Yankees?  WSCR isn't chatting about the up and coming Cubs?  You referenced ESPN.  I listen to ESPN radio every night going to bed.  They talk baseball non-stop, and had the night guy from 105.3 The Fan on.  For those of you who don't know, that's a Dallas station.  They talked Romo, the Washington game, what will happen with Romo...

And then how the Rangers are in the hunt for Cole Hamels and the rumors about Joe Maddon joining the club.

Dallas.  Talking baseball.  During football season.

Baseball isn't dying, it's alive and well.  You simply have to see above and beyond what you want to see.

I think it is a bit misleading to consider the 77 million as a cumulative number. The majority of those people are the same ones. You already said 11 million was a low number so you can't count 77 million as being pretty good since they are pretty much the same people. If it had been a sweep we would only be talking about 44 million because there were less games.

Last season 8 teams had over 3M. I'm not sure what to make of that because there were also 8 teams that had attendance under 2M. It seems both sides of the spectrum shrunk this year so maybe it balanced.

What if it is the same 11 million people who watch each game just so baseball won't die? Why would you consider that someone who watches Game 1 won't watch any other game in the series?

I'm not specifically talking about my feelings.  I listen/watch national media -- over my lifetime, I've seen football grow to crazy levels and baseball shrink.

The Super Bowl gets literally 2 straight weeks of coverage. 
The World Series isn't even the lead story on PTI on most nights.

It used to not be like this.  I even heard a national broadcast where the host said that he had to talk about baseball even though he knew it was going to cost him a lot of listeners.  I don't remember it ever being like this.  And 11 million is a lot of people, but it's not a lot of people for a national TV broadcast.  The Blacklist on NBC outdraws that.  Shit....Monday Night Football had 19 million viewers this week. 

I used to think it was because of game length and number of games and pace and all of these other reasons, but I think it might just be because people don't find the sport as interesting as they once did.

I'm not sure if it matters if it's a unique 77 million, or combined.  I still feel 11 million / 9 share per night for a team (Kansas City) which was the 25th lowest drawing team in the league isn't all that awful.  Ratings are down from last year, but SF - KC doesn't have the same punch as BOS-StL.

I think it has a lot to do with the teams playing.  When was the last time you saw a Royals fan in person?

We had the same conversation before when you made some statement like you didn't consider hockey a sport.  Its market centralized.  Places like New York, Boston, LA, are all about baseball, and love their local teams.  People you interact with probably don't care for the reasons Maine outlined.  Its just not popular here.

But, when discussing national media, how do you think it would be different if the World Series was, say, Yankees vs Dodgers?  I bet it'd be plastered all over everything.  Its just that no one really cares about the teams that are playing.

I think there is a certainly an erosion going on within the sport, and it's definable within a specific demo.  I won't argue this.  

Comparing the World Series to the Super Bowl, however, isn't fair...and never has been fair.  Even at the height of it's popularity, baseball couldn't compare to the steamroller which is football NOW (although in the 60's and 70's the WS used to get a 20 share on TV, but most people only got 2-3 channels to chose from).  Football wasn't always this way, and the Super Bowl wasn't always such a large event.  Matter of fact, it wasn't even always at night.  Things change, including a trend in football.  Attendance, league wise, is down, while viewership is up.  Baseball, meanwhile, is trending the other way.  Both sports are comparable to each other in total value.  At the end of the day, consumers speak with the wallets.  The difference between the NFL and MLB is 1 billion, and this is explained pure and simple by the over seas market, of which MLB has little to none, and NFL has exploded.  

8 billion in total revenue.  

The NBA total revenue last year was 4.5B, by matter of comparison.  MLB almost doubled it.

So, as much as folks want to keep comparing TV ratings and WS - Super Bowl as an end all, be all, I'll keep pointing at two things:

The 79 million who got out of the homes and went to MLB parks last year (all time high), and;

The 8 billion in total revenue the league generated / is worth.

Baseball is boring as hell on TV.  If you don't have a "horse in the race" it's not fun at all for the casual viewer.  The NFL is BUILT for TV.  Slow-mo, instant reply, time outs, half times, pre-game, post game shows, high-def, spectacular plays...it's made for the 60" screen with surround sound.  It's less and less appealing live, and it's showing.  And THAT will eventually start to show in owners pockets, right now they make up for it with ridiculous TV contracts.

MLB on the other hand is an amazing experience live, and numbers don't lie...year in, year out.

All this being said, comparing MLB and NFL is like comparing Europe Soccer to Nascar.  It makes little sense.

Media coverage:  Again, you have the power.  Tune in to sports talk around the nation.  Several apps will bring you magically into Boston, New York, etc.  While MLB takes a back seat to the NFL (and on ESPN to the NBA), it's not the pariah you're painting the picture it is.  And, I know this may shock folks, but ESPN is not the center of the sports world.

Data point:
I went to lunch today and the restaurant had ESPN on the TV.  They spent the first 30 minutes on "Numbers Never Lie" discussing the World Series.

There is also a huge difference between "Past Time" which could, ironically, mean "dead" and "Pastime," which is a regularly enjoyed activity. ;)

The grammar Nazis will now goose step back to the barracks...

 

Couldn't agree more

Ironically America's pastime is past its time. (Pun intended)

Last time i watched the World series is when OH wait !!!!!!!!!!!! the Florida Marlins won. After that i could care lees about baseball until Loria gives up ownership of the TEAM.  ::)