Future of the Hobby/ Responses needed

[chaddurbin]

Originally Posted by pepis

Oh yes many opinions! but only one fact!
as long as there is SPORTS in this country this hobby will NEVER die
it will go through picks and valleys but nostalgic americans will never let it die!!

but...baseball IS dying. it's turning into a regional sport, fans instantly stop watching when their team is knocked out. a jax/tampa bay nfl preseason game would give the world series a run for ratings.

alot of people is full of crap when they say "i wish the prices go back to 1970s level so i can buy more of what i want..." but i'm practically giddy thinking about that day!

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

but...baseball IS dying.

I respectfully disagree.

Does the game completely captivate the nation's attention the way it did in the 50s and 60s? Nope. Back in the 50s and 60s, homes that had a television only had three channels. Fast forward to 2013, and everybody has a tablet, a laptop, a smart phone or a portable gaming system. Homes with 3 channels, or a radio, have been replaced by satellite television, or FIOS with HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, the Movie Channel, Starz, etc...200 hundred channels. There are more choices.

But this whole notion that baseball is dying is hogwash. Major League Baseball had the sixth highest attendance in history at 74,026,895. And young people? Maybe less kids play the game. But they are there. We have several family friends with kids, and a lot of them are playing baseball.

As far as the hobby goes, eventually, card companies like Topps will be forced to change their way of doing business, or they will go the way of the dodo bird. When forced to confront their own mortality, so to speak, they will make changes. They will realize that in order to survive, they need to attract new hobbyists.

I hope that the next MLB Commissioner make the changes necessary to attract more younger viewers. The game is great, and has so much to offer.

[chaddurbin]

live attendance is a totall different animal. the nhl has seen an uptick in live attendance overall the past few seasons, doesn't mean the sport is "growing". with many mlb teams trying to monopolize their brand and creating their own channel/regional network where consumers have to pay, that means even less exposure in some area or homes that don't have cable and unwilling to pay. luckily mlb was smart with their online presence, i think they were the first to capitalize on the digital content and is a big part of their revenue now.

[glynparson]

1. I see the hobby as trading card collecting, much like Burdick, not just baseball card collecting and many have pointed to the kids growing interest in non sport products like Magic and Pokemon. This can easily lead to vintage non sport collectors who may also turn to some sports cards. I also see a lot of kids buying football cards.

2. The market is global now not just the US, couple that with our own rising Latino population. A culture were baseball is certainly still revered. As they gain a stronger economic foothold in our society and gain more disposable income I could see some values rising, particularly on some Latino legends such as Clemente.

Like I said in a previous post I have been hearing the hobby was dying since I started selling cards. There will be a trading card hobby full of many collectors for at least all of our lifetimes.