Ending the Lockout Won’t Solve All of Baseball’s Problems
On Dec. 2, 2021, Major League Baseball owners locked out their players after the latest CBA expired. Dynes Sports published a piece that same month, No Winners in Lockouts, comparing the current MLB lockout to past NFL and NHL lockouts and showing that extended work stoppages are bad for the sports they impact. Almost three months later, the baseball lockout continues and now, MLB has postponed spring training games through at least March 5th. Assuming owners and players come to an agreement to save the 2022 baseball season, games will resume and players will play. However, ending this dispute isn’t going to magically fix Major League Baseball’s lagging attendance and fan interest.
Soon after the current MLB lockout began, Seton Hall University conducted a poll that asked respondents whether they’d be less interested in baseball once games restarted. 44% of avid fans and 30% of all fans said yes. Most troubling is that 54% of the general public weren’t interested in baseball to begin with. Unlike the situation after the ’94 lockout, there’s much more competition for entertainment. Even before owners locked athletes out in December, MLB attendance hit a 37-year low and average per game numbers fell for the fifth straight year. Home viewership declined 12% since 2019. Baseball fans’ average age is also higher than any other major sport. It’s clear that bringing games back to ballparks won’t be enough to reverse baseball’s downhill slide. So, what could help?
- More Action, Including Hits
Baseball is dominated by good pitchers who strike out opponents and analytics driven offices that, while they’re successful in winning championships, take away the entertainment value that attracts fans. In 2020, a record 36.1% of the time when a player stepped up to the plate the at bat resulted in a walk, strikeout or homerun. Former Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein acknowledged that strikeout rates were out of whack and allowing more hits would make the game more exciting.
- Earlier Times for Playoff Games, Especially the World Series
For several years now, World Series games have started at 8pm EST. With the average length of playoff games increasing, younger viewers, especially children, can’t stay up late to watch the end of the games. As a result, younger viewers are, not surprisingly, less interested in baseball. By contrast, the Super Bowl starts at 6:30pm, so young fans can watch the whole game and still go to school the next morning. Starting games earlier would make it easier for kids to watch them.
- Pitch Clocks to Shorten Games
Solution #3 ties in with #2. MLB’s pace of play is too slow and games (including playoff matchups) drag on far too long. Using pitch clocks, which give pitchers limited time to throw pitches, for example, has proven to speed up play. When a minor league instituted the clock, average game times fell from three hours and two minutes to two hours and seventeen seconds. Shorter games end earlier and early risers could still watch them.
While baseball prides itself on nostalgia and the history of the game more than any other sport, it’s time for them to take a long hard look in the mirror. Simple changes could help curb the disturbing trend of losing viewers year after year.
-Jeff Dahlberg