Quote:
Originally Posted by Filthy
This opinion will come as an unpopular one...but as a whole...baseball fandom is very quickly fading away. Both of those leagues mentioned, continue to gain more and more of the share of viewers/supporters/fans. The median age of fans of Major League baseball, continues to increase, and are at an all time high..while the median age of the NFL and NBA fans continue to be stable, and relatively low in comparison.
A lot of us collect, because we love the game of baseball, and the history of the game. But todays generation couldn't care less about baseball. It's actually becoming pretty tough to find many under the age of 20, that even follow the MLB. This isn't an ultimate deciding factor...but, for comparison..25-30 years ago, you could walk into an elementary school and ask a bunch of kids who their favorite MLB player was..and 50 kids would quickly blurt out Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr. Frank Thomas, etc.... But if you were to walk into an elementary school today, and ask the same question..very little, if any of them, could even give you a single name of a MLB player.
MLB, unlike the NBA and NFL has done a horrible job of marketing its individual players, and marquee teams over the past 15+ years. I'm afraid is finally starting to catch up to them, as the popularity of the game, will continue to dwindle. So, I can see why guys like Harper would make comments such as these...as the game needs a MAJOR shot of adrenalin.
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this is good stuff, and the hobby needs the younger people to care. you might've read the "hobby is dying" mantra in the 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, 1980s publications etc...but that was different the actual game was thriving. watchers' demographics keep going up...i see more erectyle dysfunction and bph ads within half an hour of a baseball game than an nba game's worth. instead of glorifying their stars baseball actively try to take them down with ped accusations and the like. too many unwritten rules started by white guys in the old day that want the game to still be played the white way.
i do have hope for manfred tho...i think he's a progressive commisioner.