According to a study commissioned last year by Sports Business Journal, the average MLB fan is now 57 years old—up from 53 10 years earlier. The average NFL fan is age 50, while the average NBA fan is 42.
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RJM - I'm not entirely sold on the data unless I understand how they measured "fans"? Are fans the ones buying the tickets, responding to a telephone or online survey? My understanding of today's professional sports tickets (MLB/NFL/NBA) are that many are purchased through Corporations...how is that accounted for in their conclusion? I bring this up as my first job out of college was working for a market research company. There are a thousand ways you can attempt to measure "average sports fan age" depending on who is paying you to do the research.
With all of my methodology questions aside, MLB is definitely behind the eight ball in appealing to the younger generation compared to NFL and NBA. MLB has shown up to a gun fight with a butter knife.
As always, JMO.
MLB needs to speed the games up. My boys were watching some old games on the TV, and couldn't believe how quickly the play went. None of the endless fiddling with equipment between pitches, timeouts, and pitching changes. The NBA and NHL limit their timeouts. MLB needs to do the same, and enforce the pitch clock counter.
Both boys watch highlights on Youtube, or wherever. Almost never sit down and watch a full game.
BTW, for the traditionalists out there, I am merely talking about returning the game back to what it was, time wise. What is going on now is an abomination, and a bloody snooze.
Need a legit pitch clock and if the batter isn't ready, unless the umpire sees something legit, the pitch is on the way. Only 1 throw over to 1B per baserunner. Use it wisely. Limit the game to 3 pitchers only, unless the starting pitcher is removed for injury prior to the 4th. Move the mound back. Too many hard throwers. Batters looking at a lot of balls.
I watched a Northwoods game last night- 4 hours for a 6-5 game! Yikes. It is not only MLB, it has trickled down. When I ump Little League games I tell the coaches nobody steps out of the box between pitches. This needs to be enforced all the way up.
I have no problem with a pitch clock, but also keep the batters in the box, as well.
@57special posted:MLB needs to speed the games up. My boys were watching some old games on the TV, and couldn't believe how quickly the play went. None of the endless fiddling with equipment between pitches, timeouts, and pitching changes. The NBA and NHL limit their timeouts. MLB needs to do the same, and enforce the pitch clock counter.
I have been watching old games too with my son. Last week we watched the Yankees (might have been the Jeter-flip game) and I noticed the same thing, how quickly the game was moving. Then Chuck Knoblach came up and I told my son about him. Somehow the pitcher was still able to throw a pitch every 20 seconds or so... they cut out most of Knoblach's batting glove OCD stuff out of the broadcast!
@Smitty28 posted:I have been watching old games too with my son. Last week we watched the Yankees (might have been the Jeter-flip game) and I noticed the same thing, how quickly the game was moving. Then Chuck Knoblach came up and I told my son about him. Somehow the pitcher was still able to throw a pitch every 20 seconds or so... they cut out most of Knoblach's batting glove OCD stuff out of the broadcast!
Aside from the speed of the game there may have been a minute less ads between innings since they weren’t live, heavily watched games.
Ya'll do realize that when they show those old games, most are edited to remove the dead time, right?
I personally hate to watch them this way. For me, it totally destroys the timing and nuances of the game. Really strange to see a batter thrown out at first base, then 4 seconds later another pitch on the way to the next batter.
@T_Thomas posted:Ya'll do realize that when they show those old games, most are edited to remove the dead time, right?
I personally hate to watch them this way. For me, it totally destroys the timing and nuances of the game. Really strange to see a batter thrown out at first base, then 4 seconds later another pitch on the way to the next batter.
Haha... yup. Not MLB but college - I was watching Oregon St. vs Northwestern St. 2018 game last night. Ended up 9-3. It was REALLY sped up more than usual but it still seemed to take forever. I do still enjoy watching games though.
1960’s Sunday morning Notre Dame replay with Lindsey Nelson .... We rejoin the game in the third quarter with Notre Dame leading 24-7.
Frankly, all sports are in trouble with the current generation of kids. None of them want to sit and watch a game for 3, 3 1/2 hours in any sport. Yeah, they "watch" the NFL, but they watch highlights on their phones. However, the NFL is multi-billion-dollar advertising monolith and even its average fan is up to 50. So that number might not mean all that much.
They actually do watch live e-sports. I.e., other people playing their video games. Or they watch videos on youtube of other people playing their video games. Drives me crazy.
Philadelphia sportswriter ... The sport itself has grown homogenous and dull. When I watch baseball nowadays, it’s because I have to, not because I want to.
Good article. Thanks for sharing. I don't agree with everything he says, but the writing style takes me back to the things I miss in old-school journalism.
The theme that stands out the most to me relates back to the Field of Dreams plot. Baseball still has the arrogance just because you build it they will come.
All these surveys show that the NBA has passed MLB as the 2nd favorite sport in the U.S. Well, I'm not sure I agree. From a national talk show perspective, maybe I agree. However, if you go market by market or city by city, I would argue that in many places the Baseball team is more popular than the NBA team. Some examples: New York (Yankees over Knicks), Boston (Red Sox over Celtics), Chicago (Cubs over Bulls), Atlanta (Braves over Hawks) etc. Local TV (and radio) ratings are typically stronger for Baseball and moreover Baseball is something everyone (families) can attend. The NBA is getting to be like the NFL, where most fans just watch on TV.
@AD2018 posted:All these surveys show that the NBA has passed MLB as the 2nd favorite sport in the U.S. Well, I'm not sure I agree. From a national talk show perspective, maybe I agree. However, if you go market by market or city by city, I would argue that in many places the Baseball team is more popular than the NBA team. Some examples: New York (Yankees over Knicks), Boston (Red Sox over Celtics), Chicago (Cubs over Bulls), Atlanta (Braves over Hawks) etc. Local TV (and radio) ratings are typically stronger for Baseball and moreover Baseball is something everyone (families) can attend. The NBA is getting to be like the NFL, where most fans just watch on TV.
The Red Sox are the easiest ticket to get in Boston. It’s the one sport in Boston walk up tickets are available except for the Yankees. It’s the Boston sport where scalped (ticket service) tickets can be purchased for decent seats at a price reasonably close to face value. It actually says how diehard the fans are in all the sports.
The writer of the article is saying nothing more than " I like the NBA better than MLB."
The "NBA" has not passed "MLB" in popularity or as a product. But, it occasionally has a transendent athlete(s) that are so extraordinary, they prop up the rest of the sport.
The Cavs without LeBron are an after thought, the Bulls without MJ are an after thought. When Jordan left the Bulls in the late 90s, the sport became almost unwatchable. Before him, the Magic/Byrd personalities generated the interest. Then in '03, Lebron showed up, and people were interested. When Lebron retires, there will most likely be a giant void in the NBA again. Look at the 2019 NBA playoffs without LeBron...did they even happen, did anyone notice or care...I can't even remember?
Baseball doesn't have anyone with that level of persona, and never will. A guy that comes to the plate once every 9 batters or takes the mound once out of every 5 games can never dominate the season the way Lebron can. Nonetheless, it hasn't slowed receipts, as what was a $5 billion dollar per year industry in 2010 is now a $10 billion dollar per year industry. See Mike Trout and Gerritt Cole and ask them if they're concerned about the aging of the average MLB fan, if we can even believe that.
For the record, the NBA does a little over $6 billion in annual revenue, MLB does about $10 billion, and the NFL does a little over $11 billion.