[John Corn]

Give your reasons other than the labor issues that's a given. Here's a couple of things off the top of my head:

1) Too much player movement. I've always been a fan of players more so than the team. I can't root for someone I rooted against last year. I can't keep up with who's playing for who year-to-year.

2) Pre 1960, it seemed that every team, even the bad one's had a superstar. Now they don't and it's hard to root for them if it's your team or city.

 

[Maniacal1]

I'll add

1) interminable games

2) late World Series starting times, which helped baseball lose a generation of kids who couldn't see the end of games

 

[James_F]

Don't forget time. I went to a D'backs game last week. 3 hours 45 minutes for a 9 inning game. If the game starts at 7pm, people don't get back home till close to midnight. Who want to put up with that. The game was tied in the 7th inning, but people were leaving to go home. Maybe more day games would help, but then there would be no TV revenue.

 

[John Corn]

Kids don't play as much in their neighborhoods just for fun--it's all little league with parents screaming, so it's more like being in a military school than just going out and having fun.

Who do you think has more fun--kids at little league practice and games or kids playing pickup basketball or football in the park without any adult supervision?

If you grow up playing a game just for fun, aren't you more likely to have an interest in it later in life?

 

[Guest]

I'm not sure I agree with the premise...aren't attendance figures pretty good? I mean aside from Florida, Detroit, and Montreal.

That being said I do agree there are problems...game length being one even though they've made strides to shorten the games. A much bigger problem IMO is the lack of revenue sharing. How many teams other than the Yankees could have made the deals that were made last week? Its very tough for small markets to compete without a revenue sharing plan.

They also need to address the steriod accusations and rumors. Truly the integrity of the game is at stake. The explosion of home runs since the mid-late 90s can't all be because of diluted pitching and a juiced ball...can it?

 

[John Corn]

Ronaldo, I guess I could have rephrased that, I think we both can agree its interest is "not gaining momentum".

 

[HarryD]

I can say one thing for sure.. if these guys go out and strike AGAIN, it will really have a major impact on the fans. This time, they may never comes back!

 

[Steve Mehs]

Ridiculously overpaid players

 

[Mike]

Skip Caray said something interesting today and that is the Yankees radio rights for 2002 give the Yankees more money then the Royals TV rights for 2002 and that's not the players fault. I agree with that statement. Owners pay the players. AROD didn't go up to the Rangers owner with a gun and say I want $252 mil or else! You need to split the tv/radio revenue up evenly among the teams. NY/Steinbrenner, LA/FOX, Atlanta/Ted need to share TV/Radio revenue and perhaps gate/parking/ticket sales with the smaller market teams to make it a more even playing field. NFL has done the TV/radio revenue evenly for years going back to the 60's and the owners in that league still around today say that was a big reason why the NFL is successful today.

You need bookkeepers to see really what owner is losing what, but is Kevin Brown worth $15 million a year? Is Kevin Appier worth whatever he's getting this season as a free agent for the Angels? How about Aaron Sele? Answer would have to be no with all of the losses and injuries to KB, but who knew that upfront? What is the marketvalue of a pitcher today? Perhaps a smaller contract in terms of years in the answer? Not 7 years. That should never be acceptable especially for a pitcher.

Is Barry worth what he's getting? Yes. Why? Drawing fans to the stadiums to see him hit one out. BOB is sold out this weekend in downtown Phoenix and that hasn't happened much lately after the 1st couple of years where you had to go on Central and try and buy a seat if you didn't get robbed first.

Angels sold out 3 straight games against the Dodgers at the Ed last weekend. Dodgers sold out 3 games at Dodgers Stadium against the Angels earlier in June. Why? Surprisingly winning product for both teams. Winners = bandwagoners and that's very noticable in the home of bandwagon fans and Southern California and elsewhere across the country where suprising teams are winning like in Minnesota. Look at Cleveland. You couldn't buy a ticket for years at the Jake because of the new ballpark and the "winning product year after year." Now I hear John and Rick tell me on FSN Ohio that you can buy tickets at the Jake. Why? Indians aren't winning.

If you get paid a lot and do bad then the fans will boo. Notice Giambi in April. If you get paid a lot and are now driving in 2 runs for 71 by the all-star break in July then you get cheered when taken out early. Notice Giambi in July. If your team is winning and 15-16 games above .500 then your attendance goes from 15,000 earlier in the year against the Royals to 25,000 against the D'Rays later in the year. You must have a winning product and the fans will show up. Fans no longer show up if you have a bad team (Marlins, Tigers=Brewers=even with the new ballpark, Devil Rays, Expos, Blue Jays). Did the strike have something to do with that in 1994? Maybe... who knows. Teams stink. Why sit through 4 rain delays and 6 hours and 30 minutes of a game if the team stinks and will probably lose when you can watch the game at home or do something else?

Strike might hurt the fans of the teams playing bad (final straw in Miami, Tampa & Montreal especially if the owners are losing money?). It might tick off the fans of the teams playing good (NY & Boston and maybe some won't come back). I hope there is no strike/lockout, but history in 1994 seems to be parallel with 2002. It seems the owners need to split some type of a revenue stream to even out the lower market teams with the higher market teams. You can't have the Yanks getting richer every year. Steinbrenner says he wants to win and that's great, but the other teams need a chance to win after the opening day in April. The Floyd trade to Montreal is interesting today if it works out. Expos are stockpiling $'s on contracts for some reason and some pretty good players. Kinda makes you think the Expos will be around after next year. Why would the league owned team trade for Colon and Floyd if the team is going to fold after this year? That doesn't make sense either.....Lot's more to come on this subject. Hopefully, no lockout this year.

 

[John Corn]

I feel both sides have problems, it's not one or the other.
hmmmm.....Nice reply Mike !!

 

[Kevin]

Not like I could watch the games in the first place (thanks, YES Network!)

 

[Guest]

Actually, in response to Mike's post, it (The Floyd trade) indicates that the Expos might not be around for next season - they're trading away what many view to be their number one prospect in that deal (Josh Karp).

 

[John Corn]

With the predictability of the results, I think its amazing baseball is as popular as it is. IMHO, if MLB fixes the competitive balance, baseball soars in popularity.

 

[Brian Rector]

The way things go in baseball, you will see such wonderful moments like the following:

Britany Spears Night At Wrigley Field

AOL Appreciation Night (It would be the lowest of the low. Imagine the "Disco Demolition" Night in Chicago, but with AOL coasters being blown up and set on fire. It would only make Bill Gates so happy)

and......DirecTV and MLB Extra Innings Night where all fans who attend the game will get a free system only if the home team scores 10 or more runs.

You get the picture

 

[Mike]

Baseball is already doing something like that now with all of the bobblehead nights. It's a hit among the fans (kids, adults..maybe both?). Some teams are using this promotion with past players to get fans to show up against weak teams. Rod Carew and Brian Downing bobbleheads are out this year, but you have to go see some bad teams like the Devil Rays and Orioles. That's not a bad idea to get fans out for the weaker teams in the league if you can afford to go.

Another thing that hurts attendance since the owners pay so much for the AROD's, Kevin Brown's, Barry Bonds is the prices of everything. Parking at Anaheim Stadium is $8. It was $4 like 6-7 years ago and then went up a $1 a year for 4 years and has been steady at $8 now for a few years. Dodgers Stadium which for years was at $4 (2 years ago when I last went) is now also $8. You've got multiplexing pricing at some stadiums forcing the average family of four to stay home unless you are in Uecker seats somewhere. Let's say you go to an Angels game. Cheapest seat is $10 X $4 = $40 plus parking. $48 and you haven't seen a pitch. (Smart thing is go to Stater Bros and get some peanuts or somewhere and get some food to bring in to the game (water over 1oz isn't allowed-other drinks are not allowed). You are at $48 dollars and in the last row of Anaheim Stadium in section 520. You have no food and go to the concession stand. Beer is $7, peanuts are $4.25, Biggest coke is $4. Hot dogs are $4 or something close to that. Dad orders 2 beers, 3 cokes, 2 peanuts and 4 hot dogs. $50.50 for food. $50.50 + $48.00. $98.50 and you haven't hit the team store yet for the kids. Ouch! That's alot of money. How many families in So Cal or anywhere can afford that too many times in a season? If you get the owners to straighten out revenue then maybe you can lower some of these prices for the fans. Peanuts are $5 at Dodgers Stadium (guy outside the Stadium sells them for $1 a bag - so I recommend to find him by Elysian Park), so prices may vary at your local stadium. Isn't parking $20 in New York? I can't afford that too many times in a season. That forces the fans to stay home/sports bar and watch the game/games on EI/ESPN. Angels have the Mariners, A's, Red Sox & Yankees as the next 4 teams in town. I would like to go to all 4 series as a fan, but I'll be lucky to afford to go to 2 games total. Pricing of everything has to be another factor in why fans aren't showing up at your nearest ballpark. Perhaps the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes or the Lake Elsinore Storm are the teams to be fans of now, but I used to go to Phoenix Giants/Firebirds games in Phoenix and the pricing for a minor league game in the 80's was starting to get expensive too.

Bottom line is that there are a lot of problems with MLB now. You are upseting the fans and pricing them out of the ballpark. It's no wonder the NFL with all of their labor problems straghtened out is now the most popular sport in the US of A even if the tickets are more expensive.

 

[Brian Rector]

Well....now the displeasure of the fans following the 2002 All Star Game is another nail in the coffin for baseball. It was a sad scene hearing the fans go "Let Them Play!" in unison. Bud Selig is looking more and more like John Zeigler (former Commissioner of the National Hockey League) everyday.

It was a thrilling game, but the whole game was ruined with the decision to have it end in a tie (especially with the announcement of ending the game before the end of the 11th inning).

 

[Bogy]

Bobblehead night is just wonderful. Teams sell out, everyone comes and gets their bobblehead, and then two thirds of the crowd goes home. Lots of room for the fans, assuming they were able to buy a ticket once the bobblehead fans found out what nights they needed tickets to make their set complete.

Not only are fans priced out of the ballpark, but many fans can't even watch more than a smattering of games without buying EI. If a person isn't already a fan, who's going to buy a package to decide if they like baseball? So if people cannot afford to go to the ballpark, and they can't afford to watch on TV, how long do you think baseball is going to last?

Will MLB, the owners and the players, agree to go to a NFL system? Not very likely, IMO.

 

[RandyAB]

Originally posted by Bogy
Not only are fans priced out of the ballpark, but many fans can't even watch more than a smattering of games without buying EI. If a person isn't already a fan, who's going to buy a package to decide if they like baseball? So if people cannot afford to go to the ballpark, and they can't afford to watch on TV, how long do you think baseball is going to last?

Even if it is free on tv, people are still not watching if they have choices. Remember last playoff series when the Cowboys-Redskins game had better ratings then the Yankees-A's playoff game. Baseball just has too many problems. And unfortunately with a possible strike/lockout and last nights decision. I do not see it getting better any time soon. New leadership needs to come in for MLB and MLBPA that will not just care about their respective group, but also the fans.

 

[gopherscot]

I think baseball has many good things going such as:

1 - New stadiums resembling the stadiums of old. The are getting much more character than the circular ones of the 70's

2- Uniforms are resembling those of the past ... always loved the Braves ... and now like the Pirates sleeveless uniforms. Being a Twins fan they even brought back the TC on their hat.

3- bobbleheads ... I still have my old ones from Met stadium in bloomington, Minnesota. It is nice to be given something at the ballparks.

now the bad:

1- players have no heart ... they don't seem to have the passion of old.

2- Free agency has killed baseball in my opinion. I always loved the Milwaukee Braves and my early Twins. Every year familiar names came back. Now here today ... midseason a team is out of the race and instead of preparing for the future there is a fire sale.

3- Baseball is still a bargain compared to other sports ... but I really don't want to pay $5-6 for a warm beer. Parking in major cities is a ripoff.

4- no strategy any more .. why is it automatic in the 9th inning to bring a closer in? In the old days you had a carry a starter off if he was in a groove. There used to be 4 man rotations and now there are 5 ... also dumb categoroes like holds etc. Players wait on home runs (which fly out too easy) instead of hit and runs and steals. Some teams don't stategize at all!

5- We are all sick of the top teams every year being the best. In the old days your had great farm systems and your developed your players .. you don't buy them like NY. I would love to see Kansas city and Pittsburgh create dynasties. Instead they cab't afford their better players and dump them off for prospects. The small markets are always going in a circle.

6- BUD!!! Need I say more

Please baseball .. get your act together and make this game that I love free of drugs and steroids, free agency, high prices, arrogant players, and make it the game I loved whem I was young!!

 

[Rage]

"Even if it is free on tv, people are still not watching if they have choices. Remember last playoff series when the Cowboys-Redskins game had better ratings then the Yankees-A's playoff game."

Duh! *not aimed at you* A regular season NFL game is more worthy and important and will have higher ratings than the most important boring baseball game.