[QUOTE=fabiani12333;19642824]
Quote:
Originally Posted by FatButcher
Traditional media has been in steady decline over the last couple of decades -- who watches SportsCenter or the evening news anymore? Who reads physical newspapers or magazines?
MLB has a big social media presence, whether it's the official league accounts, team accounts, or reporters. They post clips on YouTube and other platforms and they allow others to do so as well. With almost every person getting their news online nowadays, MLB's reach is greater than ever.
So why aren't Judge and Ohtani seasons bigger news? Because MLB has been in steady decline too. The steroid scandal greatly damaged the sport's reputation, and the rising costs to attend and watch games made it less accessible to average people. Expensive travel ball has dominated amateur baseball, taking away from traditional leagues and making the game less accessible. Moneyball made the game less entertaining to watch, emphasizing efficiency at the expense of traditional play that was more exciting and interesting.
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There are definitely a lot of people here obsessed with steroids but as a whole I don't think that has anything to do with where the league is now. That was a big story like 25 years ago. People who are in the key demographic now weren't even alive then. Look at the NFL. Guys get suspended for PED there all the time and nobody cares. The concussion issue in NFL is much bigger then PED in MLB in my opinion and that hasn't effected the league's popularity. It seems like there are at least a couple of star players in the NFL every year with some big off the field issues and that doesn't matter. Despite all that stuff the NFL is the most popular league in the US and it's more popular then ever. Honestly I think one of the big issues with MLB is that gambling on baseball isn't as exciting as gambling on football, basketball or even the UFC. Gambling is a huge focus of sports today. ESPN and all the networks covering football dedicate time to gambling and have people on shows discussing the lines etc every day. But baseball also is a dinosaur in that regards and they've obviously have a checkered past with gambling so I understand why they don't want to embrace that aspect more but at the same time you have to change with the times and baseball is very slow to do that. The NFL and NBA are expensive too so I don't see the cost of attending a baseball game being a huge factor in popularity compared to other sports. Baseball is just less popular then it even has been and younger people are less and less interested. I live in one of the hot spots for youth and high school baseball so it's probably more popular here then in other parts of the country but even here the white suburban kids where I live all seem like they're more interested in playing basketball. There are competitive pick up basketball games every time I go to the park and I don't think kids have played pick up baseball games in about 40 years.