The “game is dying” seems to be the basis for the need to change the game and the rules to make it appealing to a larger and younger fan base. For this post, let’s briefly focus on the total revenue numbers from MLB for the past 20 years.
As per the table below, except for 2020 and 2021, which were the Covid years and which affected all sports equally, baseball has seen a pretty consistent increase in revenue over the years. Why then the panic and the concern trolls noting that the game is dying, when it clearly continues to grow from a revenue standpoint?
What are we missing here? Something doesn’t add up, where a 200% increase in revenue from 2001 to 2022 for the entire industry somehow equates to a dying and declining sport. The rest of us should be so lucky to be in such a “failed” business model.
MLB Revenue by Year
| Year | Revenue ($ billions) | % Increase |
| 2022 | $10.8 | 12.5% |
| 2021 | $9.6 | 159.5% |
| 2020 | $3.7 | (64.4%) |
| 2019 | $10.4 | 5.1% |
| 2018 | $9.9 | 4.2% |
| 2017 | $9.5 | 5.6% |
| 2016 | $9.0 | 7.1% |
| 2015 | $8.4 | 6.3% |
| 2014 | $7.9 | 11.3% |
| 2013 | $7.1 | 4.4% |
| 2012 | $6.8 | 6.3% |
| 2011 | $6.4 | 4.9% |
| 2010 | $6.1 | 3.4% |
| 2009 | $5.9 | 1.7% |
| 2008 | $5.8 | 5.5% |
| 2007 | $5.5 | 7.8% |
| 2006 | $5.1 | 8.5% |
| 2005 | $4.7 | 11.9% |
| 2004 | $4.2 | 7.7% |
| 2003 | $3.9 | 5.4% |
| 2002 | $3.7 | 2.8% |
| 2001 | $3.6 |
Baseball Purist 
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