MLB: The Real Reason The Sport Is Losing Interest

The MLB has been adapting over the past few seasons. There have been rule changes to try to speed up the game. Fans have been turned off by pine tar accusations and sign stealing. It seems like every other day there’s a new controversy giving the sport a black eye. Viewership keeps dipping year in and year out and baseball is becoming a sport of the past. The players aren’t getting worse. The league is full of stars right now doing great things. Is it really the fault of the length of games that’s turning fans away?

The simple answer is yes .. and no. Yes, in people’s ever-busy schedules it’s hard to sit down at a sporting that can take 3.5-4 hours of game time alone. Then there’s the pregame tailgates and the traffic getting out makes it an all day affair. Even if you don’t travel wtith the team, fans would have to take 81 days off from work to hit up every home game. For one game a week from March until October and you’d still only be able to see ~32 games. The time off for most is a luxury they can’t afford.

Speaking of not being able to afford, that about sums up while baseball is dying in the same fashion that movie theaters are dying, cost. Take your average trip to the movies and $12-$17 per ticket isn’t so bad, but then you add a family of 3-4 and the snacks to go and you’re easily $100-$125 just to see a movie you might not like. Now apply that to baseball. Sure you’re still getting to see your favorite team play, but your favorite player might get a day of rest. There might be a last minute pitching change. Worst of all, the team you took the whole day off to see play, could lose.

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But that’s here nor there because that’s the gamble of professional sports. However, add that to the price of a game and fans just can’t keep up. The MLB has become a luxury most people can’t afford. It’s no longer a sport for the common man. One game in the MLB and the average price range per ticket is at the highest $209 (LA Dodgers), to the lowest of $69 (Miami Marlins). Tally up the ticket prices for 3-4 family members, factor in the parking, food, and drink at the average game and chances are you’re $150-$200. At those rates, fans will be able to see mayble 1 out of 82 (1%) of the home games. Compare that to the NFL and 1 out of 8 (12%) of the home games and you don’t feel like you’re missing as much. The MLB has priced itself into obscurity. How loyal are fans likely to stay when in a sport that lasts 8-9 months they can afford to get out for one day.

The only option to keep up with your favorite team is to watch from home. Unfortunately, you can’t even do that. There’s 162 games and due to blackouts and lack of streaming options you almost never find a game you’re intersted in. The MLB has made it almost impossible to keep up with your favorite teams but will only focus on the rule changes to speed up the game. Changing anything else would cost them too much money and lord knows they won’t want to do that. They’d rather just let the sport die.