Bryce Harper

[Rich Klein]

One thing about the 74 million is those people are coming for the games for not only the games but also for the whole atmosphere of being at the game. There is so much going on now at a ballpark that the game is just part of the whole experience.

And if you look at the attendance figures back in the day when there was very little "flair" you will see most of these teams barely made 1 million fans.

I remember the Joe Horn cell phone game on ESPN and through it was hilarious. Look, the NFL has the nickname of the "No Fun League".

I know many of you hate to hear this -- and as someone who is old school in many ways -- there is trepidation in writing this -- but we need to accept the train has passed and these sports need to get more modern and with the times. And if you want baseball to get back in popular young culture to where it was, then accept the modern era. That's the way we'll get the kids back.

Regards
Rich

[sycks22]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

One thing about the 74 million is those people are coming for the games for not only the games but also for the whole atmosphere of being at the game. There is so much going on now at a ballpark that the game is just part of the whole experience.

And if you look at the attendance figures back in the day when there was very little "flair" you will see most of these teams barely made 1 million fans.

I remember the Joe Horn cell phone game on ESPN and through it was hilarious. Look, the NFL has the nickname of the "No Fun League".

I know many of you hate to hear this -- and as someone who is old school in many ways -- there is trepidation in writing this -- but we need to accept the train has passed and these sports need to get more modern and with the times. And if you want baseball to get back in popular young culture to where it was, then accept the modern era. That's the way we'll get the kids back.

Regards
Rich

Baseball is trying to get more modern every year. I recently heard that players can send instagram pictures of themselves while playing aka on deck while taking swings. It's sad that to keep up with the changing times baseball has to force its players to lose focus on the game itself and cater to the 8 year olds who already have 3 ipads and 5 cell phones

[Rich Klein]

I also wanted to point out the difference in MMA vs. Boxing

I love Boxing but that was yesterday; MMA is today. Note the difference in the fan base and the ages. Again, look at all the flair in MMA.

Regards
Rich

[Hot Springs Bathers]

As for declining interest I see a change in the positive direction. I have served on the board of our Boys & Girls Club for 20 years, we are the local baseball program.

Our numbers dipped a decade ago and now they are soaring again. We started a Fall baseball league about 5 years ago and we have to force them to end it at the end of October so the fields can rest.

We hear over and over again from parents that they want to keep them in baseball to stay away from football. I have heard for all of those 20 years that soccer is coming on and it will replace baseball. Baseball numbers here in the south are a multiple of soccer. I attended a high school soccer game last year and their were 30 people in the stands and all of the moms were on their phones or reading a magazine.

Youth baseball including the travel teams, or as I like to call them "buy your kid a position teams" are growing each year.

Baseball is alive and well.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

As for declining interest I see a change in the positive direction. I have served on the board of our Boys & Girls Club for 20 years, we are the local baseball program.

Our numbers dipped a decade ago and now they are soaring again. We started a Fall baseball league about 5 years ago and we have to force them to end it at the end of October so the fields can rest.

We hear over and over again from parents that they want to keep them in baseball to stay away from football. I have heard for all of those 20 years that soccer is coming on and it will replace baseball. Baseball numbers here in the south are a multiple of soccer. I attended a high school soccer game last year and their were 30 people in the stands and all of the moms were on their phones or reading a magazine.

Youth baseball including the travel teams, or as I like to call them "buy your kid a position teams" are growing each year.

Baseball is alive and well.

Mike:

I remember when I met you back in 2004, the baseball program was really suffering because of the "elite travel" teams. I'm glad to hear that baseball is coming back in Arkansas.

Soccer is also a great sport for kids, but doing headers is proving to be another cause of CTE. As baseball is proven, for the most part, to be the safest of the major sports, then you will continue to see a resurgence.

And letting the kids be more modern will help as well

Rich