If you only see the signal and the result pitch it takes about 20-25 minutes to watch a MLB baseball game.
If you only see from count to tackle a NFL football game takes about the same time.
The difference is the average fan knows enough about football to debate whether the team should have run or passed on the last play or the next play between plays (even if they don’t really know what they’re talking about).
The average baseball fan doesn’t know enough about pitch selection to discuss it between pitches.
The once a week a friend comes over to watch the (baseball) game we discuss pitch selection. The game doesn’t seem so long as long as it ends in three hours.
Maybe MLB needs to incorporate a travel ball like rule. No inning starts after two hours and forty-five minutes.