Support NeoGAF

[CygnusXS]

Baseball is just the worst sport. I don't know how anyone watches it.

 

[arab]

so you're saying regions that don't have teams in the play-offs of the NBA and NHL are opting to watch a sport where their region has a team playing?!

OH MY GOOOOOOOOD

 

[Cat Party]

It's great that cities are getting behind their teams more these days. Attendance is good and local ratings are strong. Unfortunately baseball is still terrible.

 

[Opiate]

Sold tickets does not equal butts in seats. The way attendance for all sports is calculated needs to be reigned in.

Yes, that wouldn't be particular to baseball, then.

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

Sold tickets does not equal butts in seats. The way attendance for all sports is calculated needs to be reigned in.

The 162 game season can also make for some empty stadiums early in the season too. Unless the team is doing real well or has a large fan base.

 

[Fatalah]

Baseball is the best sport to put on the TV after a long day's work. I just kick back and surf the web with baseball playing in the background. Es nice.

 

[diehard]

so you're saying regions that don't have teams in the play-offs of the NBA and NHL are opting to watch a sport where their region has a team playing?!

OH MY GOOOOOOOOD

Apparently a baseball team's local ratings slightly beating the national ratings for the Cavs is ... good?

 

[pxleyes]

Yes, that wouldn't be particular to baseball, then.

It isn't, but it also is why saying 'baseball attendance is at an all time high' is entirely disingenuous.

 

[Fjordson]

Why do you say this? Isn't hockey popular in U.S?

It's popular here in Canada, or is Basketball and Baseball bigger here too?

Basketball and baseball are much bigger overall in the U.S. than hockey. NFL also, but that's a given.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Football, Basketball and Hockey are dying, guyz. You know because there's a picture.

 

[mr2xxx]

Talk about unfair comparison. Better off comparing the Hawks vs Braves in Atlanta.

 

[pxleyes]

Football, Basketball and Hockey are dying, guyz. You know because there's a picture.

My point was arguing against all time high attendance. The marlins declared the game pictured below to have 20,000+. Does that seem accurate to you?

 

[LQX]

Are the NBA games even on local TV? Only time games come on locally are Sundays. Other nights it either on ESPN or TNT. To me they handle the games terrible. Either have all on cable or all on normal TV.

 

[pxleyes]

Are the NBA games even on local TV? Only time games come on locally are Sundays. Other nights it either on ESPN or TNT. To me they handle the games terrible. Either have all on cable or all on normal TV.

Like every major sport, playoffs are handled by national channels. Regular season games are often handled by local channels.

 

[Plinko]

This article is completely pointless.

It is comparing local TV ratings (which are almost always strong with baseball) to national TV ratings. Well, duh--of course baseball-crazed Kansas City is going to watch the Royals game more than the hockey or basketball game, of which they have a team in neither league.

If you actually look at the ratings closer, notice how he conveniently leaves off Atlanta, Washington DC, and New York--the three cities that actually had teams playing on other channels that night. In fact, he left off 10 major markets, meaning 7 of those markets without a playoff team most likely beat local baseball ratings. Plus, look at Cleveland, Baltimore, and Tampa, where they had no team in the playoffs and still drew about the same ratings.

He cherry-picked the information he thought would support his point and didn't think people were smart enough to look beyond his numbers.

What a stupid article.

 

[LQX]

Like every major sport, playoffs are handled by national channels. Regular season games are often handled by local channels.

I dunno, NY must be different but I hardly see games on TV even during the regular season.

 

[ReAxion]

My point was arguing against all time high attendance. The marlins declared the game pictured below to have 20,000+. Does that seem accurate to you?

They've always used the same metric so it doesn't matter.

 

[Laekon]

My grandmother is the only person I know who semi regularly watches baseball games. She only watches Red Sox games and is over 80 yrs old.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

If the Royals can keep this numbers up they could shoot for a way bigger TV deal and help sustain their recent success. IIRC they are near the bottom in TV/Radio revenue.

Spoiler

Of course,as a White Sox fan I hope they fade back into obscurity again

Yeah, here's hoping because from what we've always been told, Fox Sports KC locked up Royals coverage for a song.

(And oh, I'm sure the White Sox will be harassing us at the top shortly if they keep this hot streak up. Actually, this is how I thought they'd be going into this season.)

As a Cardinals fan, I'm glad to hear it. Obviously our rivalry has been lopsided in recent decades, but it's frankly not very fun to beat up on a team so down. It wasn't fun seeing Kauffman populated significantly if not majoratively by Cardinals fans when we had series against one another.

Yeah, that's always been a huge bummer. I'm curious to see how it'll look this weekend!

 

[pxleyes]

I dunno, NY must be different but I hardly see games on TV even during the regular season.

Some leagues have local blackouts. It's a nightmare of a situation. Lived in Jax for 2 years. I think I saw 3 regular season games on TV in that time.

 

[The Albatross]

Meanwhile, all anybody in the US is talking about is Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

And it's May.

Spoiler

(Tongue in cheek, but pointing out that the US has definitively become more interested in the NFL than any other sports)

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

They run Cubs games over CW finales on WGN. Old dudes need their baseball.

Older people watch a lot of television.

Baseball fans patting themselves on the back, thinking their sport isn't still dying because a bunch of local old folks still watch their games.

here come the haters. trotting out their old people arguments. it's cute if not downright stupid* and condescending considering old folks will also watch the NFL for example.*
but I guess anyone over 30 is old....

I'd be interested in a demographic breakdown of these numbers. The NBA has done a horrible job IMO in appealing to audiences of 30+ year olds. It has created an image of a stlye over substance league where big plays are more important than wins and stars are more important than teams.
Add to that the horrible officiating and super star calls and you have an unappealing product, at least for me.

*

the NBA will always be as you describe it except back in the 80s and 90s players played harder and were far more physical.

a weekday game in a stadium that is under major Reconstruction. you can do better than that.

Baseball is just the worst sport. I don't know how anyone watches it.

people won't get your sarcasm dude!

This article is completely pointless.

It is comparing local TV ratings (which are almost always strong with baseball) to national TV ratings. Well, duh--of course baseball-crazed Kansas City is going to watch the Royals game more than the hockey or basketball game, of which they have a team in neither league.

If you actually look at the ratings closer, notice how he conveniently leaves off Atlanta, Washington DC, and New York--the three cities that actually had teams playing on other channels that night. In fact, he left off 10 major markets, meaning 7 of those markets without a playoff team most likely beat local baseball ratings. Plus, look at Cleveland, Baltimore, and Tampa, where they had no team in the playoffs and still drew about the same ratings.

He cherry-picked the information he thought would support his point and didn't think people were smart enough to look beyond his numbers.

What a stupid article.

*

Cleveland, Tampa and Baltimore are not having good seasons and they still beat nationally broadcast games. small market teams beat playoff games.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Americans only like Hockey when the Kings are in the playoffs. Same with Basketball and the Lakers.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Americans only like Hockey when the Kings are in the playoffs. Same with Basketball and the Lakers.

By Americans do you mean Los Angelenos? Then yeah, LA loves a winner.

When teams are winning, people go so they can take selfies and tell other people they're going to the games and aren't they cool. If the teams aren't winning, attendance falls and no one talks about it.

Baseball is just the worst sport. I don't know how anyone watches it.

I would say the exact same thing about basketball. But then I'd realize my one opinion on a topic that is decidedly objective is meaningless and unimportant.

 

[theepicoftyler]

vs Weekend game

Huh.

 

[Killing_Joke]

Last time i checked aren't playoffs/championship games pretty piss poor in national ratings? (outside NFL of course). Local is always where it's at.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Baseball is just the worst sport. I don't know how anyone watches it.

Ever played it?

 

[Lexxism]

This is bad news for haters.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Ever played it?

The sarchasm, you fell into it.

Cygnus is a huge Braves fan and long-time MLB-GAF regular.

 

[mcfrank]

We don't have to guess at attendance numbers, they are pretty easy to find:
RK TEAM GMS TOTAL AVG PCT GMS AVG PCT GMS AVG PCT
1 LA Dodgers 81 3,782,337 46,695 83.4 81 33,830 79.2 162 40,262 81.6
2 St. Louis 81 3,540,649 43,711 99.4 81 32,022 74.4 162 37,867 87.0
3 NY Yankees 80 3,401,624 42,520 85.7 81 35,512 85.2 161 38,994 85.5
4 San Francisco 81 3,368,697 41,588 99.2 81 32,936 72.7 162 37,262 85.5
5 LA Angels 81 3,095,935 38,221 84.2 80 28,174 65.1 161 33,229 74.9
6 Boston 81 2,956,089 36,494 98.5 81 31,867 73.6 162 34,181 85.1
7 Detroit 81 2,917,209 36,014 87.3 81 28,800 68.0 162 32,407 77.5
8 Milwaukee 81 2,797,384 34,535 82.4 81 32,328 75.6 162 33,432 79.0
9 Texas 81 2,718,733 33,564 68.3 81 27,155 64.3 162 30,360 66.4
10 Colorado 81 2,680,329 33,090 65.5 81 31,659 71.2 162 32,375 68.2
11 Chicago Cubs 81 2,652,113 32,742 79.6 81 33,096 76.4 162 32,919 77.9
12 Washington 81 2,579,389 31,844 76.7 81 29,864 68.8 162 30,854 72.6
13 Baltimore 80 2,464,473 30,805 67.8 81 29,671 70.4 161 30,235 69.0
14 Cincinnati 81 2,476,664 30,576 72.3 81 32,140 74.1 162 31,358 73.2
15 Pittsburgh 81 2,442,564 30,155 78.6 79 33,316 76.1 160 31,715 77.3
16 Philadelphia 81 2,423,852 29,924 68.6 81 31,136 71.1 162 30,530 69.9
17 Toronto 81 2,375,525 29,327 59.5 81 29,708 71.2 162 29,518 64.9
18 Atlanta 81 2,354,305 29,065 58.4 81 30,804 71.7 162 29,934 64.6
19 Minnesota 81 2,250,606 27,785 70.3 79 26,943 63.6 160 27,369 66.9
20 San Diego 81 2,195,373 27,103 63.5 80 32,877 72.0 161 29,972 67.8
21 NY Mets 80 2,148,808 26,860 64.3 81 32,217 73.4 161 29,555 69.0
22 Arizona 81 2,073,730 25,601 54.0 79 31,481 70.6 160 28,504 61.9
23 Seattle 81 2,064,334 25,485 53.2 80 28,158 66.3 161 26,813 59.3
24 Oakland 80 2,003,628 25,045 71.4 81 28,757 65.6 161 26,912 68.2
25 Kansas City 81 1,956,482 24,154 63.7 81 26,872 62.8 162 25,513 63.2
26 Houston 81 1,751,829 21,627 52.8 81 27,191 63.0 162 24,409 58.0
27 Miami 81 1,732,283 21,386 57.1 81 28,892 65.4 162 25,139 61.6
28 Chicago White Sox 79 1,650,821 20,896 51.5 81 28,519 66.7 160 24,755 59.4
29 Cleveland 78 1,437,393 18,428 42.4 81 29,107 68.9 159 23,868 55.7
30 Tampa Bay 81 1,446,464 17,857 52.4 81 28,685 65.8 162 23,271 59.9



To put this in perspective, the lowest attended baseball team doubled the attendance of the highest attended football team. Obviously in way way more games, but still baseball is doing fine.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

The sarchasm, you fell into it.

Cygnus is a huge Braves fan and long-time MLB-GAF regular.

Well, that explains thinking that baseball is the worst right now.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Ever played it?

he's being sarcastic. the Barves are bad this year and I suspect he's drowning himself in self-hatred.

 

[DrForester]

My local stations haven't aired any NHL playoff games outside a few Saturday/Sunday games.

 

[Jay Shadow]

So they're saying more people in Cleveland had the Indians game on instead of watching the Atlanta Hawks vs Washington Wizards non-elimination game. That's some expert analysis. Pack it up, everyone. NBA in Cleveland is obviously dead.

 

[Vyer]

This article is completely pointless.

It is comparing local TV ratings (which are almost always strong with baseball) to national TV ratings. Well, duh--of course baseball-crazed Kansas City is going to watch the Royals game more than the hockey or basketball game, of which they have a team in neither league.

If you actually look at the ratings closer, notice how he conveniently leaves off Atlanta, Washington DC, and New York--the three cities that actually had teams playing on other channels that night. In fact, he left off 10 major markets, meaning 7 of those markets without a playoff team most likely beat local baseball ratings. Plus, look at Cleveland, Baltimore, and Tampa, where they had no team in the playoffs and still drew about the same ratings.

He cherry-picked the information he thought would support his point and didn't think people were smart enough to look beyond his numbers.

What a stupid article.

Yeah. I'm not exactly in the 'baseball is dying camp', but this article in general is really spinning.

 

[CygnusXS]

he's being sarcastic. the Barves are bad this year and I suspect he's drowning himself in self-hatred.

One game under .500 is bad now?

 

[clearacell]

I know dodger games still get sold out/nearly sold out even on random ass weekdays. It helps that the ownership cares so much and they're winning though.

 

[El_Chino]

The MLB reigns supreme.

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

Baseball is just the worst sport. I don't know how anyone watches it.

shut up you!!!

 

[JJDinomite]

Baseball isn't dead yet, but it most certainly will die in our lifetime.

 

[hemtae]

One game under .500 is bad now?

Well it isn't good. But you did just get a manager fired so that's something.

 

[Kusagari]

Baseball just doesn't capture the American zeitgeist these days. It still does big business these days.

I'm curious how the NBA finals will do this year since there's going to be no Celtics, Lakers or Big 3 Heat to bring in ratings. I guess there will be Bron if the Cavs make it.

 

[TheWarrior]

I don't understand why Hockey is not bigger in the USA. It is fast paced, lots of physicality and skill to get wins or even goals. Right now in the playoffs, there are four great teams playing each other to make it to the finals.

ESPN doesn't have a TV contract with the NHL so they don't hype it up as much because it's on a rival network.

 

[17 Seconds]

Baseball fans patting themselves on the back, thinking their sport isn't still dying because a bunch of local old folks still watch their games.

Wow, this is impressively dumb.

 

[17 Seconds]

Baseball isn't dead yet, but it most certainly will die in our lifetime.

So misguided. Baseball will always be around. Others sports will implode long before baseball dies, whether you like it or not.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Meanwhile, all anybody in the US is talking about is Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

And it's May.

Spoiler

(Tongue in cheek, but pointing out that the US has definitively become more interested in the NFL than any other sports)

NFL's stranglehold on us sports media needs to end.

 

[BadAss2961]

Silver needs to rig the lottery to make sure Lakers and Knicks get the 1st and 2nd picks.

I'm no fan of either of them, but it's true that basketball isn't the same when the Lakers and Knicks are garbage.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

I don't know about the basketball playoffs, but the hockey playoffs are boring as shit to anyone outside of those teams fanbases.

Nobody cares about watching the Rangers choke again.
Nobody cares about watching the Ducks choke again.
Everybody is probably tired of seeing Chicago win.
Tampa Bay are from Florida.

 

[Hypemaster]

I dunno, NY must be different but I hardly see games on TV even during the regular season.

Really? They always show Knicks games on the MSG channel and Nets games on the YES channel.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Baseball?

More like Bestball, emirate?