Longtime MLB employee: Baseball 'dying' is a 'tired, misinformed' statement

Cain, Dyson, Gore, Sipp, Chris Carter all had story lines yesterday in Houston.

Does MLB reach out to inner city? Not really. Those kids have to seek it out and it's cost prohibitive in 2015 as the game is taken over with travel teams and Lexus mommies.

 

Baseball's TV economics and those of the NFL are apples and oranges. The NFL is the last hit show the over-the-air nets have that attracts any viewers under 60. So they'll pay anything for it. Baseball thrives on its ability to fill cable TV's endless time maw, which makes it super desirable as a cable program. Either way, the leagues in question make out like bandits.

 

It's cheaper to go to a Major League Baseball game than it is to the NFL & NBA NBA and NHL games are on the west coast too and those games are not watchable for many in the east.

The majority of NBA playoff games are not on over the air tv. Regular season NBA games on ABC total around 15 for the year.

And why is it inner city kids can't play baseball but kids in 3rd world island nations and Central and South America can?

 

Nicely done on the thread title.

 

There are times in high-drama playoff games where TV can switch to as many as 10 different crowd/dugout shots IN BETWEEN PITCHES. "Can't you just feel the tension!?!?!?!?!?"

Then you get a foul ball --- the fourth one of an at-bat approaching 10 minutes in length --- and it starts all over again. Just can't take it anymore.

The famous Mazeroski HR game featured 19 runs and 24 hits ---- and took 2:36 to play. Because there were no walks, and it didn't take 30-45 seconds between every pitch, with every count going full to every batter.

 

A lot of good points made here in the space of a couple pages.

The TV money keeps rolling in and blowing up exponentially.

Dixiehack's point about the daily fantasy games should not be undervalued--that could be another big boost to the game.

And from June to the end of August, for most places, they are the only game in town. In summer months when the weather is good, and attending a game is a great social event regardless of what's happening between the lines.

I guess the millenials will eventually decide if there's enough action going on to keep them interested. But I would be much more concerned about the concussion issue effect on the NFL in terms of long term longevity than anything baseball is facing. Unless, we're headed to flag football for the shield...

 

The increasing TV money is something that has always baffled me. The audience share keeps getting more and more divided, and ratings are nowhere near what they used to be.

Last year's World Series posted an average rating of 7.3 for Games 1-6. Between 1972 and 1986, the 10 highest-rated Series had ratings between 27.6 and 32.8. What justifies a rating one-quarter of what it used to be to charge more?

 

Games not being on the four networks has a lot more to do with how the TV industry has changed than problems with baseball.

Anecdotal evidence only, but I've been in Jersey the past six days and kids are decked out in Mets gear all over the place. Utley had been the biggest story and people are commenting on my Royals hat everywhere I go.

MLB might not be the NFL, but that doesn't mean it isn't healthy.

 

There are way, way more channels now.

 

I understand that as the critical reason ratings are lower.

What's the reason rights fees are higher for games in which ratings are lower? Advertisers are paying more money for fewer eyeballs. The opposite of what should happen.

 

Are you taking inflation into account, especially in the advertising industry, over the last 30-40 years?