Baseball is dying and the powers that be don't care.

[westofyou]

The thing is, everything is shrinking its slice of the American attaention span. When I was a kid there were three TV Stations and the radio. Now I have hundreds of stations, streaming, other on-line entertainment to choose from. With more options means more fragmented audience. I just don't think the dramatoc "Baseball is Dying" proclamation is appropriate. Almost everything is "Niche" these days because there is so much to choose from.

True, the huge audiences of limited media offerings (MASH Finale is a great example) is over, the amount of streaming apps is insane too. It's a world with a lot of choices in the entertainment industry, including gaming.

[elrojo]

Where is Bill Veeck when we really need him?

[0-2 Count]

It's not baseball that's dying. It's the Baby Boomers perception of how the world should be that's dying.

[RedsBrick]

People should not be shamed for having this opinion. It is legitimate, and I share some of your concerns. My biggest problem is with the postseason tv deal. The season ends, and unless you have a cable package that included ESPN, TNT, TBS and the MLB network, some or ALL of it disappears for two weeks. That is a serious problem for baseball. They have to be slotted like football games so they do not overlap. it is a real turn off, and what the pandemic and these stupid tv deals have taught me is that after 50 years of living and breathing baseball I can go long stretches without it and be just fine. I attended about 10 games this year, and really enjoyed it. But when not in attendance I was not compelled to turn on the radio or watch highlights. Instead of grabbing for every dime and associating itself with organized gambling, baseball should make some decisions moving forward to get the game in front of more eyeballs. That is the long game.

I align with this stream of thought. MLB needs to get the game available to more eyeballs. Give the product away. Let people stream it for next to nothing.

MLB also needs to correct its' salary structure and institute a salary cap; create a spending floor and ceiling.

There's a lot MLB can do to change the game for the better, but they're slow to act. They can start with putting the DH in the NL and staying with it. No one wants to see a pitcher at the plate because he probably won't be able to lay down a successful bunt, anyway.

[Indymoon]

It's a 19th Century sport in the 21st Century, it's flawed as packaged evening TV entertainment. But the advertisers want night games, that's because they can sell adult stuff in a zillion markets. In the beginning of radio the games were played in the daytime and the main audience were woman in the home, children and guys who worked the late shift or early shift, so they sold cereal (it's how Wheaties got big) and other household goods. Then came night games with beer, cigarettes and razors; all flush with money and ready to sell to men.

Now MLB is selling Good Sam! What the hell is that? I had to look it up. That's an indication how far baseball has fallen - the primary sponsor of the post-season is a niche company that most people have probably never heard of. And won't ever purchase.

[westofyou]

Now MLB is selling Good Sam! What the hell is that? I had to look it up. That's an indication how far baseball has fallen - the primary sponsor of the post-season is a niche company that most people have probably never heard of. And won't ever purchase.

Primary?

I have not seen any Good Sam commercials myself, ten thousand insurance commercials but no Good Sam, and if I did they must be so vanilla I tuned them out.

[CaiGuy]

I hope I live long enough to complain about baseball not being what it used to be.

[Indymoon]

Primary?

I have not seen any Good Sam commercials myself, ten thousand insurance commercials but no Good Sam, and if I did they must be so vanilla I tuned them out.

Not commercials but rather signage during the games. I've seen signage behind the plate and a huge ad in CF at Fenway (I think). I guess the official term is presenting sponsor.

https://rvmiles.com/good-sam-named-p...-mlb-playoffs/

[westofyou]

Not commercials but rather signage during the games. I've seen signage behind the plate and a huge ad in CF at Fenway (I think). I guess the official term is presenting sponsor.

https://rvmiles.com/good-sam-named-p...-mlb-playoffs/

Ahhh yeah, I tend to tune that out after awhile. Last year it was Utz Potato Chips IIRC

Good Sam and MLB is targeting the retiring boomer generation who happen to be their largest demographic... "Pass the Ribbon Candy Clarence."

I'd like to see signage for Squid Games and Lady GaGa in Vegas sneaked in there to create some controversy.

[cumberlandreds]

Good Sam is plastered all over behind home plate and on the the mound today. Baseball isn't dead to Good Ole Sam.

[Big Klu]

To people my age and older in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio, "Good Sam" is old Good Samaritan Hospital in Zanesville.

[SomeCallMeTim]

Ahhh yeah, I tend to tune that out after awhile. Last year it was Utz Potato Chips IIRC

Good Sam and MLB is targeting the retiring boomer generation who happen to be their largest demographic... "Pass the Ribbon Candy Clarence."

I'd like to see signage for Squid Games and Lady GaGa in Vegas sneaked in there to create some controversy.

Wonder how good the baseball would be if Squid Game rules were in play…

[M2]

Wonder how good the baseball would be if Squid Game rules were in play…

Do NOT mess with the new umps.

[FlightRick]

Ahhh yeah, I tend to tune that out after awhile. Last year it was Utz Potato Chips IIRC

Good Sam and MLB is targeting the retiring boomer generation who happen to be their largest demographic...

And a year before potato chips, I think the presenting sponsor of the playoffs was "Komatsu." That was at least thrice as baffling and google-worthy than Good Sam. Unless there's a secret subculture of baseball fans who collect extremely expensive heavy construction machinery, and Komatsu craved the inside track on selling them cranes and excavators.

At this point, I give up on caring. Bring on playoff bseball, presented by TieRite Shoe Laces! Every sponsor's money spends the same, even if they're some weird niche company.

[oregonred]

What time did the NFL Sunday night game end?

Two of the smallest NFL Markets had 17M viewers last Sunday night for a regular season game

A Game 3 postseason matchup with the nation's #3 and #4 markets managed to pull in 1.8M viewers or about 10% of the viewers compared to a regular season NFL contest

MLB has become a regional sport for viewing and the postseason numbers continue to be terrible year after year. And it looks like some of the key demographic regions and top tier markets actually in the playoffs aren't even working.

MLB seems to be dialup AOL in a 5G and streaming digital world