Notice how ESPN treats baseball like it don't even exist anymore?

[CHOPTALK]

It is unreal compared to just 4 years ago.
Its almost getting to the point where they barely show highlights on sports center .

On the bottom line screen with the scores they show the NBA games twice for every one time they show the baseball scores.

The NFL is getting 10x the coverage of baseball and it's April .

Johney Manziel gets 2x the coverage of baseball just him alone .

 

[PatsFan1283]

Because baseball doesn't really resonate on a national level like it used to. ESPN isn't making this decision by themselves, the viewers are making it for them.

The Red Sox are popular in Boston, the Mets are popular in NY, Dodgers in LA, etc...It is still extremely popular, gates are good, local TV $ is flowing, but it is highly regional.

If Mike Trout or Bryce Harper or whoever was infront of most people in line at 7/11, they wouldn't even know.

 

[CHOPTALK]

I think baseball has been that way for a long time.

This did not start 4 years ago.

I have always had an easier time watching 2 random football teams play vs 2 random baseball teams.

But I still like to at least see highlights on what's going on around the league if not whole games

 

[PatsFan1283]

I think it started around 06-07 and steadily built up to now.

Once the revenue sharing came into place, the Yanks and Sox and a few other teams couldn't just buy up all the good players. When that stopped happening and there was more parity, the rivalry got less significant and nothing really replaced it. Another thing is baseball thrived off its history for awhile and because of the steroid era, a lot of those records just don't mean much anymore. There really can't be any discussion of them. And water cooler/hot button type discussion drives a lot of interest in sports.

And then also there is the obvious fact that technology has made the world far more fast paced and baseball is slow as shit.

Go to a game recently? Half the people are on their smartphones.

 

[CHOPTALK]

I think it started around 06-07 and steadily built up to now.

Once the revenue sharing came into place, the Yanks and Sox and a few other teams couldn't just buy up all the good players. When that stopped happening and there was more parity, the rivalry got less significant and nothing really replaced it. Another thing is baseball thrived off its history for awhile and because of the steroid era, a lot of those records just don't mean much anymore. There really can't be any discussion of them. And water cooler/hot button type discussion drives a lot of interest in sports.

And then also there is the obvious fact that technology has made the world far more fast paced and baseball is slow as shit.

Go to a game recently? Half the people are on their smartphones.

Man that's some really good stuff right there.

I was not expecting anyone to give me some honest reasons in a thread like this but I think you are on point.

Yea I thought about the Yankee/Red Sox deal but did not really coralate it to revenue sharing as the core cause.

Come to think of it maybe revenue sharing is a major reason.

Even though baseball has always been regional there was always exceptions.

Boston/NY was a national story that has not been replaced .

And yes the home run era has had an effect.

Even casual sports fans would enjoy watching people hit 70 hrs.

That has not been replaced.

Now for question #2.


Is there a solution for baseball or is it simply passed its national prime ?


My one thought has been the MLB network.

I think they do a great job of covering baseball. Better then the NFL or NBA network and they have shifted enough viewership that was formerly watching sports center for baseball .

Not leaving enough interest for ESPN to cater to like before the MLB network.

 

[PatsFan1283]

That's just the Northeastern perspective. We tend to think the world revolves around us.

Someone may have a different idea.

I think it is past its prime as a national sport but that really means nothing. All of entertainment is more fragmented and niche than it was just 10 years ago, and much more than 20-30 years ago. The teams still have regional monopolies and are printing money hand over fist.

Look at the top 25 major cities in America population now vs 30 years ago. Huge increases but the # of sports teams in those cities didn't increase at all.

Moral of the story: nice to have a monopoly.

 

[REDEYE]

It's hard to watch any ESPN these days ...You're better off recording it so you can fast forward the 45 min that ESPN is on its knees sucking off the NBA..

 

[boss415]

I think the way networks are snapping uo certain sports and the pay per view packages is why espn may back off a bit. There is so much baseball everyday that it is hard to cover it all. Plus it still way early with nba playoffs, nhl playoffs , masters etc.
My home team Giants are not hurting in the slightest but a quick trip across the bay is the small market team in Oakland. Even the A's are able to hang around so there must be money somewhere.
My biggest fear which i think will come sooner rather than later is that all games will be on a pay per view or season package.

 

[JustinCruise]

It's hard to watch any ESPN these days ...You're better off recording it so you can fast forward the 45 min that ESPN is on its knees sucking off the NBA..

They suck the NFL a whole lot more than the NBA


And the NFL is the worst product of all major professional sports

 

[metro]

pat nailed it .. its a shame because i think the level of play has gotten so much better..there are some really gifted players in todays mlb and the minor leagues and their coming in waves.

 

[CHOPTALK]

pat nailed it .. its a shame because i think the level of play has gotten so much better..there are some really gifted players in todays mlb and the minor leagues and their coming in waves.

Well with all the bad press the NFL is getting with injuries and the fact that baseball pays waaaaaay more then football. An average 3rd starter in MLB that plays 12 years is gonna make more money on the field then Peyton Manning .

You would think that this would lead to a lot more of the elite athletes taking up baseball then football going forward

 

[GoBlue34]

You are right...but what's weird youth baseball continues to get bigger and bigger. 2 of my boys play select/travel and it's insane the number of teams and tournaments out there even vs 5 years ago. You would think that might translate but maybe everyone is off watching their kids play so they don't have time to watch/care about baseball.

I like baseball but I can't remember the last time I sat down to watch an entire game outside of the playoffs and even then I don't watch every pitch.

 

[Enfuego]

Stop complaining Choptalk.

 

[fade2win]

It's hard to watch any ESPN these days ...You're better off recording it so you can fast forward the 45 min that ESPN is on its knees sucking off the NBA..

This is so spot on

 

[slapshot]

Baseball is a past time it's not supposed to be watched just played or listened to as background noise while you BBQ or working on a car

 

[HarryCaray]

Things like this have a pendulum effect. Baseball is not as popular as other sports currently, but in 10 years everyone will get sick of the penalties and concussion protocol in the NFL and will long for a purer game, and migrate back to MLB.

That's my theory anyway.

Having 2 wild cards and 162 game season doesn't help either, the regular season is relatively meaningless.

 

[JourneymanLegend]

I stopped watching ESPN.

 

[RenoChazz]

Interest is down, yet revenue is still way up, so don't expect baseball to make any changes to the game to get with the times. It's still my favorite sport to bet on, but watching a whole game from beginning to end is hard to do. I'm usually playing online poker while watching the game.

 

[REDEYE]

They suck the NFL a whole lot more than the NBA


And the NFL is the worst product of all major professional sports

Most of us like the NFL....and could care less about the NBA

 

[PatsFan1283]

The level of play being so high has probably contributed to the sports lagging popularity in many ways. When you have such intense competition, the edges are razor-thin and it can be tougher for teams to separate from one another. Especially on a multi-year basis. Then it has a more random feel to who is good, tough for teams and players to be really popular. The downside of parity.

On the player end, with guys off the sauce and players being so good, you have guys declining at a more natural rate these days. Can be tough to build mega-stars when they're 1. Not always on top teams and 2. Having primes that are only really 5-6 years in length.