MLB vs Other Leagues

For years now “everyone” seems to be complaining about how long it takes to play a major league baseball game these days.  As noted from Baseball-Reference.com (https://www.baseball-reference.com) the data shows that from about 1950 until 1980 the average length of a game stayed fairly consistent, which was around 2 hours 30 minutes.  Beginning in 1980 it has begun to creep up from that 2 hour 30-minute mark, to just past 3 hours.  The debate today is what is driving longer games and what needs to be done about it.  MLB answered that question in their mind by instituting pitch clocks and other measures.  Before wading into the discussion about the merits of the MLB fix, let’s look at the action level, popularity and prosperity of MLB relative to the other sports.

All we ever hear is that baseball is a dying sport on the cusp of withering away unless something is done and done fast.  Evidently, something done fast means completing the games quicker. 

The NFL is clearly the king of sports today, topping out in revenue and popularity against all other sports by a wide margin.  That advantage though is despite it providing the least action of any other sport.  It’s funny, of all the complaints associated with the lack of action and long games, no one ever brings up that same complaint about the NFL despite similar numbers.  The counter argument is that there are only 17 regular season NFL games compared to 162 MLB contests.  Perhaps then we should be complaining about the length of the MLB season and the number of games and not the length of the games.

There was an interesting thread last year (Faster games) that covered this topic and one of the replies is worth repeating here.

This post kind of sums up our feelings.  This used to be a seasonal sport, but now it goes from a cold weather start to a cold weather ending.  Add in Spring training and it is understandable why fans tune out on what becomes nine months of baseball.  Overall, this is about a money grab plain and simple that includes both owners and players alike.

Looking back at our chart above, baseball continues to be relevant and profitable.  Despite its lack of action, it is on a par with the NBA in both profitability and popularity, while clearly distancing the NHL and MLS.  The counter argument would be that baseball used to be king and that it is has been overtaken by the NFL (that happened long ago) and now somewhat by the NBA.  In addition, a league like the MLS is on the rise and could take market share away in the future.  Those arguments are valid to a degree, but increased competition from other sports and other activities does not mean the game as currently positioned is going away anytime soon nor is it in dire straits (used to love that band).

On the next post let’s look at the historical revenue picture of MLB, which contradicts the doom and gloom the general public is bombarded with regularly.