I understand that “baseball/MLB isn’t attracting new/young fans” was a very cool thing to say for a long time but for a few seasons now it’s just categorically false
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How so? I see two things going on: 1. Greater participation in youth baseball leagues, but 2. Not enough kids at MLB games (prices?) and the ones that are there aren't watching the game: they're in the concourse doing something else.
aug 13, 2025, 6:53 pm • 0 0 • view
Money, parking, minor league games being a subjectively superior family experience imo...
aug 13, 2025, 7:59 pm • 3 0 • view
I don’t think there’s any way to prove this but I’d offer that in any era, a ten year old in the stands of an MLB game is going to have a pretty divided attention span
aug 13, 2025, 7:05 pm • 1 0 • view
Not in mine. We went to the game and were indeed engaged. It was a far superior product back in the late 70s than what we are seeing now.
aug 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 0 0 • view
Then it mustve stopped in the 70s. The norm for kids in the 80s and 90s was to kinda check in and out of the game while walking around and generally acting like kids, making paper planes, that sorta thing. Guess the game just coincidentally peaked at the point you seem to recall it most romantically
aug 13, 2025, 9:31 pm • 0 0 • view
Well, we did make paper planes...but we were still in our seats, with the game going on. The difference is that the stadiums back then offered nothing else but the game. If I'd gone to a game only to ask my dad to take me and my friends to the playground in leftfield, there would have been words LOL
aug 13, 2025, 9:41 pm • 1 0 • view
It sounds like a common theme that ballgames and childhood go together very well, and we both hope to see that in the future if the game!
aug 13, 2025, 10:03 pm • 0 0 • view
I agree...I am only voicing a concern that youngsters playing the game may not be as intetested in watching it at the MLB level. And I really can't blame em.
aug 13, 2025, 10:14 pm • 0 0 • view
Very few people will be locked on and focused on the field for 3 hours. That is simply not how people engage with live sports in 2025. If they wanted to do that they'd do it at home.
aug 13, 2025, 8:32 pm • 0 0 • view
I regularly attend NFL, NBA, NHL, and WNBA events. I can tell you: it's not the case elsewhere...though to be fair, those sports have intermissions.
aug 13, 2025, 9:09 pm • 0 0 • view
I've been to an NFL game and the players mostly sit around? They stop playing for TV ad breaks all the time: boring AF and not much to do in the stadium. NHL yeah. High energy. NBA and WNBA I've got no idea.
aug 13, 2025, 9:12 pm • 0 0 • view
Point is, attendance at MLB games doesn't prove fan engagement. Many modern ballparks offer amenities that attract young crowds (kids as well as 21+) just looking for a night out and they have zero interest in the game itself. That doesn't grow the game, imho.
aug 13, 2025, 9:16 pm • 0 0 • view
People going to baseball games doesn't grow the game?
aug 13, 2025, 9:20 pm • 2 0 • view
If they aren't there to watch the game...no. I was at a game at Target Fld last year (GREAT ballpark!) but I'd guess that 20-30% of the crowd (21-30 age group) had zero interest in watching the game. That's fine. They were having fun. But that doesn't mean they're baseball fans.
aug 13, 2025, 9:44 pm • 0 0 • view
Good news I hadn't been tracking! Is there a report/link you can share?
aug 13, 2025, 6:41 pm • 0 0 • view
Totally get the potential skepticism w posting an article from league media but this is a good consolidation of the big picture (even pre NY/LA WS) www.mlb.com/news/mlb-you...
aug 13, 2025, 6:56 pm • 1 0 • view
Thanks
aug 13, 2025, 7:06 pm • 1 0 • view