Is baseball still our nation's pastime?

Related to this week’s readings discussing motivations for watching sports on television, team identification and fandom, a recent AP-AOL poll found that only one third (32%) of Americans are fans of professional baseball (http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/NEWS/610200410/1005). A total of 2,002 adults were included in the telephone poll, conducted earlier this month during the League Championship Series. Among other findings:
· more Americans 35 years and older than under 35 considered themselves baseball fans;
· whites were more likely than minorities to classify themselves as baseball fans;
· nearly half of all baseball fans (48%) are hoping Barry Bonds falls short of Hank Aaron’s career home run title;
· more Americans (28%) consider exorbitant salaries as the biggest problem in baseball, followed by cost of game admission (21%), and steroids (19%).

Moreover, Neilson ratings for the baseball playoffs are down considerably this year (http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_4519951), with this year’s World Series between the Tigers and the Cardinals expected to break record low ratings set last year when the White Sox defeated the Astros.

But despite this apparent drop in baseball’s fan appeal, MLB’s single-season attendance record was broken for the third consecutive season, surpassing 75 million people for the first time (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060930&content_id=1691363&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb).

I find it surprising that baseball would only appeal to one-third of Americans. From my observations going to sporting events, baseball seems to have the broadast fan base, with fans from all demographics attending games.

My question is: how many people are baseball fans, will you be watching the World Series this week, and if so, what motivates you to watch (assuming you’re not a fan of either the Cardinals or the Tigers)?

ESPN SportsCenter - Y2K Test

After class I thought I should post my fav commercial. Enjoy -Ben Handelman