Interesting topic and a lot of good points made. My first thoughts on the topic are in regards to connection. In addition to the visibility points made earlier, baseball is played every day and in modern times fans can see their favorite, or any, teams regularly if not every game. While that level of exposure wasn't always the case, baseball fans of old followed their teams on the radio daily, and pored over box scores for stats. Football is obviously played just once a week, per team of course, and plays over a shorter season. This increased level of availability may have something to do with it, along with simple fact that football came into prominence nationally much later than baseball. Personally, I collected both equally as a kid in the '70s, eagerly awaiting the arrival of both sport's packs in my local stores and have a fondness for their place in my childhood that is at the very core of why I still collect.
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