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Originally Posted by JRutledge
Even if football is not on, the average public does not care. Maybe you are one of those guys that still think most people are that crazy about MLB and the playoffs. The reality is anytime they have to go head up with another sport, they lose. And you are not going to get many fans than a Sunday night no matter what is on.
Personally I do not care why they did or did not play the game. It was just another game that I did not watch. And I am sure most of the country. 
Peace |
You cannot compare baseball to other sports in terms of ratings, JR, without tweaking numbers. Baseball plays 162 games a year for 6-7 months. They play every day of the week except for two specific dates (two dates on which no major pro sport plays, BTW). Football plays, for the most part, on one day a week--Sundays (I'm not including Monday Night Football here because that's one game and not most/all of the NFL).
I absolutely love the NFL, but I can assure you of this: if they played 7 days a week, I'd tune out. As it is now, I hate it when they play on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday during a given week. This overexposure or oversaturation results in lower viewing ratings, but that doesn't mean its popularity has declined. For another year, MLB recorded record attendance. I believe that's the third or fourth year in a row, too. Hardly the sign of a sport in which "most Americans" have little interest.
You also cannot define its popularity by citing participation among the nation's high schoolers, because, among other reasons, football, for example, has a bigger roster and necessarily requires more participants in order to function. Also, baseball is not considered a big "money sport" for one main reason: baseball parks at high schools and colleges lack the ability to draw fans in the area of 30,000 to 100,000, which is something football can do. Even soccer and basketball can draw more fans. So, financial logistics will determine the apparent "popularity" to which you allude.