It worries me that every year the World Series ratings go down. Money ball isn't working to make baseball popular, the millionaires who play it are colorless and aloof, there are no characters to speak of in the game, and without cable at all you can see football 3-4 days a week. The game I love is dying. It's withering and dying. What can be done (what can WE do) to change things? What can baseball do to change things? CAN the situation be improved? How?
I ask because like many of you baseball for me is better than ANY other sport. It is killing me to see the way that it is rapidly on its way to becoming America's 4th or 5th favorite sport. If nothing else -- can you make me feel a little better about the future???
2007-09-21 03:21:49 · 10 answers · asked by Sarrafzedehkhoee 7 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Part of the problem is shift in American culture. As we continue down the road of immediate gratification and "in your face" "extreme" pop culutre, baseball fits less and less.
People just don't want to take the time it takes to appreciate baseball anymore. Other than speeding up the game a bit by enforcing time limits in areas such as how long a pitcher can take to pitch and how many times a batter can step out, not much you can do here.
However, baseball's biggest problem is lack of a salary cap. As long as the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox can spend so freely, baseball will continue to lose its audience.
The lack of a cap has virtually eliminated the fanbase in America's heartland and blue collar towns. While occasionally well managed small market teams will succeed, the bottom line is there are many teams that flat out can't compete.
Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and others have ZERO chance to win. If you were a fan of one of these teams, would you care about baseball? As soon as one of your players gets good, the Yankees or Sox buy them away. You have nothing to root for.
On the flip side, there is no accountability for big market teams. If the Royals spend poorly on a big-name free agent, they pay the price. IF Bosotn does, who cares? They just waste the money and buy antoher one.
Combine these factors with the dollar disparity these teams can spend on scouting and player development, and you have a real disparity issue.
These factors are HUGE problems for the game. It is no coincidence that the league with the hardest cap, the NFL, is the nation's top sport.
Baseball must introduce a cap. There can be good teams and bad teams. Teams that tend to succeed regularly and those that fail.
However, you must maintain hope. KC fans must feel that if they go through some tough times and rebuild the right way, they can compete. Also, in down years they must have something to root for, such as their few superstars, such as the lame 1980s Braves had Dale Murphy or the lame 1970s Royals had George Brett. Today these guys leave their hometown franchise for the big boys as soon as they can (Damon, Beltran, Giambi, -- I could name a ton more).
Fans must feel that if Boston breaks the bank to win now, the cap will ensure some lean years ahead.
Right now baseball is going the other way, and in general fans lose interest.
2007-09-21 03:45:46 · answer #1 · answered by h_charles 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I don't think this year's ratings will be down from last year mainly because of the teams in the playoffs. LA, NY, Boston and Cleveland in the AL will provide a big enough drawing of viewers no matter who gets to the WS. In the national league, its still up in the air who's even getting to the playoffs. The other big problem is the time of the games is too late. People have work and don't want to stay up so late on a week night, and kids have school. Here's what I don't understand about the time: if all year the games start around 7 why not keep them at that time throughout the playoffs? If it's good enough in spring and summer it should be good enough now.
2007-09-21 12:24:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Becoming a baseball fan starts at an early age. With WS games starting after 8pm ET and not ending until after midnight many young kids don't get to see the most exciting part of the baseball season. I believe if WS games started at 6pm or even 7 pm, more people would watch and more young kids would become fans. And once a fan, always a fan.
2007-09-21 10:32:26 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, the answer about not appreciating baseball is correct. But the ratings come down to who's playing. Does anybody in Detroit & St. Louis own a TV? LA-NY are always the best rated. Why? Because 20 million people live there! Will anybody watch if it's Cleveland v Arizona? I won't.
2007-09-21 15:19:52 · answer #4 · answered by janeynbruce 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
One of the biggest issues I see with the waning interest in baseball is that most baseball fans, aren't fans of the game itself, but of a single team.
While this board is inundated with Yankee fans or Red Sox fans, they obviously like their teams, hate the other and really don't care about the other 28 teams.
If their team isn't in the playoffs or world series, they care little about seeing someone else's team succeed.
As another answerer said 'the era of instant gratification'.
But alas, we can't change the team fans into baseball fans.
There was a question on here about the 10 best players playing now and one girl actually put down Melky Cabrera.
I know it's her opinion, but that simply tells me she likes the Yankees and probably doesn't even pay attention to whom they are playing, because Melky, isn't even top 10 on his own team.
On the idea of the cap, fans of teams that spend a lot of money will point to the owners of the other teams as refusing to spend (whether they make money or not), but as long as a few teams and their fans are willing to be gouged to win, there will be an imbalance.
I don't want my home town team to go to all lengths to win because I know I will pay for it eventually. And I don't want to see them win so much that I am willing to shell out $1000 a year personally to see it.
2007-09-21 11:06:05 · answer #5 · answered by brettj666 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I wish that i could say something to make you feel a little better.
Unfortunately MLB has dug it's own hole.
The cable networks don't add anything to the mix.
I'll still watch the WS, but my interest level will depend on whose playing.
You are correct. It's football season.
My suggestion would be to shorten baseball's season so that it's over in September, WS and all.
2007-09-21 10:41:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
not at all
if anything, this may be the year they get the best ratings because the Cubs and the Red Sox or Yanks will make it
the Cubs will be the main reason it will be watched because it's been 99 years since we last won it all
Red Sox are a great team with lots of fans and the yanks suck dick and dumbass new yorker's follow their gay asses
2007-09-21 18:45:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ticket sales keep going up.
Besides tv executives, whose necks are on the line, who really cares about ratings?
As well, Fox deserves to suffer poor ratings. Their production is dismal (on a good night), their announcers are annoying (particularly McCarver; Buck at least seems to realize he's being a doofus; Timmy believes in his blowhardiness), the sound effects are atrocious, and the net is owned and run by foul people. Let the ratings continue to suck until a better network (really, any one will do) wins the contract.
2007-09-21 13:32:46 · answer #8 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The ratings will be better because you'll have all the Yankee Fans watching it, and you'll have all the Yankee Haters watching it. Why? Because the Yankees will be in it, and winning it. Of course, by the end of Game 4, the Yankee Haters will be so depressed they can't watch Game 5... if there is a Game 5.
2007-09-21 11:09:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Hope the Yankees make the WS and the ratings will go up. everybody loves watching the yankees. Alot of people watch just hoping they will lose, and of course us yankee fans watch for obvious reasons. i do think the umps should speed up the game. theres no reason to take 45 seconds between every single pitch. and the strike zone is retardedly small. belt line to knee?!?!
2007-09-21 11:41:41 · answer #10 · answered by George C 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋