I was listening to the Michael Kay show the other day. Thankfully he was out and Don Lagreca (sp?) was filling in for him.
The discussion was about the dying popularity of baseball. A few good points were made:
1. It's currently the second most popular sport, however, it is the only sport where there is a higher % of fans over the age of 60 than under.
2. Each year the popularity amongst young poeple is going less and less. He stated it's important to have an even balance because you'll need new fans to replace the older ones when they die off and currently that isn't possible with their demographics.
3. Young people aren't into baseball anymore because the sport promotes bullying and puts people that are not good at the sport at an embarassing position. It's embarassing to be bad in baseball. If you swing and miss and look awful it stands out and poeple could laugh at you.
4. You're not active at all. If you're awful, they stick you in right field hoping the ball doesnt get hit to you. At least in other sports like basketball and football, you can be awful but uo get a workout.
5. Sport is the most resistant to change. The league knows they need to get the sport moving faster but the fans and others that impact decision making are always going against their changes. Such as instant replay, limiting time between pitches, limiting stepping out of the batters box.
6. Sports like NBA and NHL grab your attention better than MLB.
I seem to agree. If won't be long until it's not #2 anymore.
The discussion was about the dying popularity of baseball. A few good points were made:
1. It's currently the second most popular sport, however, it is the only sport where there is a higher % of fans over the age of 60 than under.
2. Each year the popularity amongst young poeple is going less and less. He stated it's important to have an even balance because you'll need new fans to replace the older ones when they die off and currently that isn't possible with their demographics.
3. Young people aren't into baseball anymore because the sport promotes bullying and puts people that are not good at the sport at an embarassing position. It's embarassing to be bad in baseball. If you swing and miss and look awful it stands out and poeple could laugh at you.
4. You're not active at all. If you're awful, they stick you in right field hoping the ball doesnt get hit to you. At least in other sports like basketball and football, you can be awful but uo get a workout.
5. Sport is the most resistant to change. The league knows they need to get the sport moving faster but the fans and others that impact decision making are always going against their changes. Such as instant replay, limiting time between pitches, limiting stepping out of the batters box.
6. Sports like NBA and NHL grab your attention better than MLB.
I seem to agree. If won't be long until it's not #2 anymore.
