For most of the last century, the start of baseball’s World Series — with its red, white and blue bunting and occasional ceremonial first pitch from the president — was always a major event. The opening game of the Fall Classic has provided some of the country’s most enduring sports memories, including Willie Mays’s over-the-shoulder basket catch (1954), Sandy Koufax’s 15-strikeout performance (1963) and Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run (1988).
But this week, more people watched “NCIS: New Orleans” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and — for that matter — “The Walking Dead,” the cable show about zombies. The audience for “Sunday Night Football,” a regular season game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos, was almost twice that of Games 1 or 2. Even last Saturday night’s college football matchup — Florida State University versus Notre Dame — drew more viewers than either World Series game.
Perhaps the most compelling statement about baseball’s relative standing among American sports fans is this: Last summer’s World Cup match between the United States and Portugal drew 25 million viewers, roughly double that of the World Series opener.
Perhaps the most compelling statement about baseball’s relative standing among American sports fans is this: Last summer’s World Cup match between the United States and Portugal drew 25 million viewers, roughly double that of the World Series opener.
2 comments:
And if you live in the Great Heartland, the World Series broadcasts on radio will be preempted on Friday nights by local high school football. No kidding, this is really the case. Royals are playing a compelling and exciting game three against the San Francisco Giants at San Francisco and the affiliate station for the Royals in John Ashcroft's home town is currently broadcasting the high school football antics of the 'Ball-eh-ver' Liberators---for those unacquainted with Ozark patois, the town, high school, and team are named in honor, so to speak, of Simon Bolivar.
So much for state loyalty to a team from the very urban Kansas City.
and on it continues...
The steroid era had more compelling storylines. Who cares about a season where no one hit 70+ homeruns? Another difference is the kids. I grew up loving to get a program and keeping score at the game. My kids wouldn't do that unless there was an app rewarding them with gold tokens.
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