I don’t know the exact statistics, but my general impression is that MLB and baseball overall don’t seem as prominent in pop culture and social perception as they were in the 1960s, 70s, or 80s.This might be due to my social circle of Americans (mostly Gen Z and African Americans) or the type of TV shows and movies I watch, but most baseball references I notice tend to come from older films and shows. In contrast, the NFL and NBA seem far more present in media and everyday conversation today.Is this just a perception issue on my end, or has baseball genuinely declined in cultural relevance in the U.S.?
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Yeah. Even when it’s a good year, it’s nowhere near the proportion of viewership it was back in the day.
(Note: I am a huge baseball fan)
I don’t think so. I’d say it maybe did decline, but I think it’s pretty popular right now. I am not a sports person at all and I just started getting into baseball 2-3 years ago. It’s popular. Granted I’m a Phillies fan and Phillies sports is something else, but most games are sold out.
Not really.
2023-2025 saw huge jumps due to rule changes. The last three years have been awesome IMO. But I’m also a mariners fan lol
It might be more popular if you could actually watch the games on tv without a ridiculous subscription. They don’t air many games on regular cable tv so access to baseball has diminished.
I mean, I live in Pittsburgh. The only happy baseball memory I’ve had since 1992 is of Johnny Cueto dropping that ball.
No. MLB attendance and viewership are both up. It may not be quite as culturally relevant as the the NFL or NBA, but it’s currently growing in popularity.
Yep. NFL has taken over mlbs spot. I’ve been to several mlb games for 30 bucks with decent seats. Went to chiefs game this year and my seat was 800$ for mediocre seats. You should see the tailgating
Compared to the 1960s and 1970s, absolutely. The NFL and NBA were still relatively young leagues back then and baseball was the dominant sport.
I’d say baseball has def dropped in popularity some over the years. The rule changes over the last few years have helped. The emergence of Banana Ball I think is also helping baseball’s popularity.
Compared to 10 years ago? No. I agree it doesn’t have the same perception as it did last century. It may not be as popular as it was back then, but it’s actually more popular in recent years than it was a decade+ ago
Depends on where you live. I’m Gen Z and I would say that MLB is much more popular than the NBA in my city. But that’s probably influenced by the fact that we have an MLB team but no NBA team
If anything the opposite. Now a lot of that is foreign interest: Ohtani’s popularity means sometimes dodgers games get as many or more eyes in Japan. The rise of the world baseball classic helps too. Personally I love it. Baseball and football are my favorite, and that means I have a sport to watch 10-11 months a year. Even then, ncaa basketball championship plugs half of the gap
Last few years have been a huge bounce back actually, probably bigger than the NBA again.
There have been rule changes that people grumbled about, but have actually been very successful. Having 2.5 hour games vs 3.5 hour games has boosted attendance.
IIRC, the viewership and game attendance for MLB is pretty high. It’s just that we’ve exited the monoculture and now A LOT of other things are popular, too.
It’s my favorite sport, but yeah, it’s declining. It’s been that way for a long while. It was just a few years ago that they were taking about contracting the league to fewer teams. It’s really their fault though. After the ‘94 strike, they turned a blind eye to juicing, and then tried to play the fan base for fools when it all came out. Like, “I’m shocked, there is gambling in this establishment”. Nobody bought it. All the stats from that era are suspect. Then, it was just a few certain teams dominating for so long (and the league going along). Who could be blamed for not caring anymore when it was going to be the Yankees again. It’s not that way anymore, but it’s too late
Go dogers !
Yes it has declined but I read that it did come back some to take over 2nd place from basketball in the TV ratings more recently. Football is way ahead now though..
yes, baseball is significantly less popular than it was back then.
it’s my second favorite sport but there’s no denying it’s clearly in 3rd place by a decent margin.
Idk. We love baseball
I am a diehard fan and even moderate the team sub on Reddit. I was in a Chinese restaurant with a bar once, about two years ago. They had Sportscenter on the TVs above the bar, no sound. This was around noon in the month of June during the baseball season. They talked about football and basketball and the only baseball content was an ad for MLB The Show.
Sadly, baseball is just not popular as it used to be. Is it because other sports are more interesting? Do kids hate slow sports like baseball?
It has been declining slooowly but steadily in popularity since at least the sixties. Kids hardly play anymore and over time that leads to adults not watching anymore. There are beautiful baseball diamonds all over my hometown, but you never see people use them except sometimes for Little League and when Indian immigrants come to play cricket. Maybe with the new rules it will bounce back a bit since it’s not as much of an acquired taste, perhaps people who have never played it will sometimes enjoy watching it.
Been pretty great for me! But honestly, I know it’s not the most popular sport and I’m really OK with that. I just feel that it’s still the best, and least tarnished, professional sport we have. I’m not saying it doesn’t have its warts, it does, but it’s holding its own out there.
Yes and no, is my sense, or more specifically the patterns of fan behavior have changed. Its lost its status as the go to for casual sports fans to football and to an extent basketball, and to that extent has also lost some mainstream cultural relevance, but has a vibrant community of more dedicated fans and a stronger ‘sunculture’ than it used to.
Depends on when you are comparing to. Baseball has objectively declined in popularity over the decades. There’s a lot more competition for entertainment today.
In recent years post rule changes, it’s stopped the decline and even grew albeit marginally. They are doing better in viewership but still only 15M people watch the World Series (~5% of the population), which is nothing compared to the past. MLB has 240 million hours watched in 2024 vs say Stranger Things had 1.35 billion in its first 90 days
In my view, baseballs popularity remains more of a live event. There are many games and games are very cheap. Most people I know who aren’t into baseball have still gone to games as a social outing. That’s not as true for NFL
Since the 60s? Yes. In the last few years, there’s been a bit of a resurgence. Baseball was replaced by football as the top sport, but it’s always retained cultural relevance.
Baseball has chosen to milk its aging fans for every dollar it can get while ignoring opportunities to grow the game. And it’s been doing that for two decades. Each club prioritizes the local revenue from their local television option and there’s almost no collaboration to try to grow a national audience.
Half the owners have no interest in winning. Just in collecting revenue sharing checks and banking the money.
It’s a shame because the product on the field might be the best it’s ever been. Players are faster and stronger than ever. Highlight reel plays happen all the time. But the various MLB owners have zero interest in trying to get current 10yo kids to become lifelong fans. They just want to squeeze the 62yo dude next door for as many dollars as they can before he dies. Why grow the game for the next guy that will own the team? Get the money now. Sigh.
The barriers of entry are higher than ever before. When I was a kid you could live with a glove, cleats, and one pair of slide pants and socks. Now my nephew plays tball and has to pay for home and away uniforms (even though he always plays at the same park) and equipment is significantly more expensive than 30 years ago, even though he’s five. With basketball, all you have to do is show up to the court with some shoes to join a pick up game.
Not noticeably. Baseball fans are everywhere and they fucking LOVE baseball.
Ticket sales are down but they’re also down for basketball and hockey. I attribute that mainly to giant 4k TVs costing like $250. Football is still king by far so the nfl ticket sales are fine.
Baseball has declined in popularity since the 1960s but has actually increased in popularity since, say, 10 years ago.
It’s true that ratings-wise, football and basketball have certainly taken over in popularity. But after years of decline (and a perception that only older people liked the sport), baseball has been making a comeback– the most recent world series got very big ratings, and superstars like Shohei Ohtani are bringing in an international audience. For years, baseball has been perceived as slower and more cerebral, but the rule changes did speed up the game, and anecdotally, I see more young people getting interested. Will that last? I don’t know, but as I said, football and basketball have been dominant for several decades, and it will be interesting to see whether baseball continues to turn things around and reach new audiences.
I’ve always found it interesting that there is sooooo much coverage of the tournament in both basketball and football, but baseball? Crickets.
No. Sports are declining across the board, and baseball’s is actually the flattest. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2023/08/17/groundbreaking-report-on-mlb-shows-baseballs-incredible-value-for-advertisers/
I was a kid when MLB players went on strike and I/my family never really followed baseball after that. I’m happy when the Mariners do well but if I never saw another game, I wouldn’t care. I don’t know anybody who is a diehard baseball fan. I guess I hang around football people.
Rule changes have definitely helped the mlb