Despite the dramatic increase in television ratings for the 200 9 World Series, many believe baseball is losing its swagger. Last week in class we discussed how the demographic of males from the ages 18-35 consider baseball irrelevant. I agree with this statement and believe the NFL and NBA are now more popular within my demographic. Much of this can be linked to the steroid problem in baseball. I believe many fans don't care about the sport anymore because so many all-star players have been caught cheating, so who knows who is taking steroids. Another reason for this is the scarcity of parity in baseball. Only a few teams in all of the MLB can afford to spend money on free agents so the same teams are always in the playoffs contending for a championship despite some success stories such as the Florida Marlins and most recently the Tampa Bay Rays. I think the main reason baseball is irrelevant is because of the long 162 game season. Baseball is irrelevant because there are so many irrelevant games being played, considering many teams are out of contention with months to play such as the Cleveland Indians. Being an employee for the Cleveland Indians I witnessed this first hand when fan attendance and support dramatically decreased as the season moved on. Baseball needs to shorten the season so more relevant games are played, but with owners main concern being money that remains doubtful. With so many teams out of contention with months to play in the season, the sports becomes uninteresting and boring with so many useless games being played.
I agree 100%. The popularity of baseball has tapered off severely among people within our age group. The steroid scandal plays a big part, but I believe the main reason for this is the difference between the have and have-not franchises. Many teams are out of contention for the playoffs at or near the All-star break, and as a result, begin to clear their rosters in hopes of re-building for next season and beyond. Teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies usually benefit from this while teams like the Indians, Pirates, and Royals continue to struggle season after season.
ReplyDeleteAs a result, fan support dramatically declines when the NFL, NBA or NHL seasons begin play in the losing MLB markets. Major League Baseball will never gain the popularity it once had in the U.S. during the 20th century. I think it is safe to say that the "National Pastime" moniker should be handed over to the NFL.
This is a very well articulated blog entry in response to the question about whether baseball is irrelevant. I think you have outlined key issues and baseball executives would do well to heed the things you (and others) are saying. In relationship to the photo of Selig (which is so appropos), I recently read that he plans to retire after 2012. That is something to which we can look forward!:-)
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