Viewing Habits Suggests Soccer's Rise. Baseball's Decline.

[ISUTex]

I think that really depends on the school you're talking about. Baseball is probably right up there with Hockey as being a rich kid sport.

Before anybody gets all bent out of shape about what I'm going to say keep in mind I have had two kids play USSSA baseball at the same time. We're down to one playing travel/freshman ball and one playing rec league right now.

If you're in a relatively wealthy school district baseball is still huge through high school. When I say relatively wealthy I'm thinking West Des Moines, Urbandale, or Cedar Falls. If you live in one of those areas you've probably got several club baseball programs to choose from who will gladly take your $600-$800 for fees, then you need to buy a $300 bat to keep up with the Joneses and a $200 mitt. That bat if you're lucky will last two years before the kid out grows it or if you spent big money on a composite one the damn thing is probably going to crack during one of those cold April tournaments. Then you get to 13U and need a drop 8 bat then again at 14U you need a drop 5 bat and then when he's a freshman you need a drop 3 bat. Maybe you could save some money buying a cheaper glove but then you're probably buying a new glove every year because of the schedule that $80 glove feels like a wet paper towel at the end of the season. If you're a kid from a lower income household you just can't make that work but you can play rec ball and that's a whole lot more reasonable thing but seeing the difference between the two where I live you've got a whole bunch of kids who are unprepared for high school baseball just because their parents didn't have $1500 laying around to drop into their kids making up for the parents athletic failings.

Now you get into the have nots like a Waterloo East where half the varsity bench is made up of 8th graders. Baseball needs to figure out a way to get those lower income kids involved or in another 50 years it'll be a super niche sport that ends up on some 3rd tier channel where MLB is buying the air time rather than getting paid for their games.

That's true and it's too bad. I had the same glove from 6th grade through high school. It was huge for a couple of years but I grew into it. Never had a bat. Would just use somebody else's bat (of course, bats were cheaper and fewer bat rules). Also never had a bag.

 

[mramseyISU]

Here's one thing I don't quite agree with for the "Baseball has too much dead time crowd". The NFL is far and away the most popular sport and there's a ton of time spent with the teams in a huddle. According to this article from 538 it's only 18 minutes for a 3-1/2 hour long game. Granted MLB isn't much better but there's more there. If you're looking for a sport where something is actually going on then soccer is where it's at, I just can't handle watching soccer though.

How Much Football Is Even In A Football Broadcast?

NFL telecasts include a smaller share of game action than in any other major sport -- even MLB.

fivethirtyeight.com

.

 

[BMWallace]

But every play total is like 20 minutes. The rest of the 4 hours is just talking and commercials. Lots of commercials.

That is my biggest issue with NFL and CFB: All the damn commercials. After every punt, turnover, score, and kickoff,Plus injuries and timeouts. The amount of downtime in american football is crazy. At least high school games can get done in under 3 hours.

College football is the worst about games dragging on though. They really need to change the first down clock stoppage rule, it slows the game down too much. They need to change that and limit o-line blocking to 1 yard down field on passes.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Here's one thing I don't quite agree with for the "Baseball has too much dead time crowd". The NFL is far and away the most popular sport and there's a ton of time spent with the teams in a huddle. According to this article from 538 it's only 18 minutes for a 3-1/2 hour long game. Granted MLB isn't much better but there's more there. If you're looking for a sport where something is actually going on then soccer is where it's at, I just can't handle watching soccer though.

How Much Football Is Even In A Football Broadcast?

NFL telecasts include a smaller share of game action than in any other major sport -- even MLB.

fivethirtyeight.com

.

The NHL lockout absolutely killed hockey in this country and that’s a shame. It’s the most exciting viewing sport right now and they actually implement common sense changes to make the game better. Plus hockey has the best refs in sports. They make mistakes, but they are solid up and down the lineup, those guys live the game too and it makes it a better product. They respect the players, the players respect them.

I hope ESPN or national Fox Sports (FS1, FS2) do a hockey contract since NBCSN is being halted.

 

[mramseyISU]

That's true and it's too bad. I had the same glove from 6th grade through high school. It was huge for a couple of years but I grew into it. Never had a bat. Would just use somebody else's bat (of course, bats were cheaper and fewer bat rules). Also never had a bag.

I used the same bat for all 4 years of high school but I did get a new glove as a birthday present my senior year (that I still have over 20 years later). The equivalent model of glove is $350 now. I try really hard to find bargains for the stuff I get for my kids though. I bought a BBCOR for my oldest that was a 2019 model for $60 last week but he was trying to get me to drop $350 on a bat he doesn't have to use in a game for another year probably.

 

[BCClone]

Americans can't handle a soccer match that ends 2-1 but have no problem with an NFL game that ends 14-7.

Hint: Both games are 3 score games.

You can see big hits in the NFL though. A QB sack for your team is nearly as exciting as a long touchdown pass.

 

[BCClone]

Here's one thing I don't quite agree with for the "Baseball has too much dead time crowd". The NFL is far and away the most popular sport and there's a ton of time spent with the teams in a huddle. According to this article from 538 it's only 18 minutes for a 3-1/2 hour long game. Granted MLB isn't much better but there's more there. If you're looking for a sport where something is actually going on then soccer is where it's at, I just can't handle watching soccer though.

How Much Football Is Even In A Football Broadcast?

NFL telecasts include a smaller share of game action than in any other major sport -- even MLB.

fivethirtyeight.com

.

One that football can give you though is, you may have only been able to see the ball, but you missed the great pancake block of the outside receiver breaking loose and not being noticed. They will show those replays and fills the void. You may see a substitution that intrigues you. The big then is also that third down creates a little suspense, if they will convert or not. Soccer doesn't have that.

 

[VeloClone]

You can see big hits in the NFL though. A QB sack for your team is nearly as exciting as a long touchdown pass.

A big save can be nearly as exciting as a score.

I'm of the belief that you can find something to like about just about any sport. But it takes less effort to just ***** about sports that you don't understand than it does to learn the rules and understand how the elite athletes in a sport are really amazing at what they do.

Not necessarily directed at you.

 

[somecyguy]

The NHL lockout absolutely killed hockey in this country and that’s a shame. It’s the most exciting viewing sport right now and they actually implement common sense changes to make the game better. Plus hockey has the best refs in sports. They make mistakes, but they are solid up and down the lineup, those guys live the game too and it makes it a better product. They respect the players, the players respect them.

I hope ESPN or national Fox Sports (FS1, FS2) do a hockey contract since NBCSN is being halted.

I really enjoy hockey, but for me, it doesn't translate well to TV. The energy level watching hockey live is just something else. I also think it suffers from the same long schedule issue that MLB suffers.

 

[BCClone]

A big save can be nearly as exciting as a score.

I'm of the belief that you can find something to like about just about any sport. But it takes less effort to just ***** about sports that you don't understand than it does to learn the rules and understand how the elite athletes in a sport are really amazing at what they do.

Not necessarily directed at you.

I love contact type stuff, why soccer just doesn't appeal to me as much. My son played for about 5 years and my daughter a couple. I would pay attention while they practiced so I could learn the basic rules and such and several times they would have us parents scrimmage against them just to have different people to play against. It was just a local thing and more practice than games. So, I did have a general idea, haven't watched it any after my kids were done; but really sank home that I preferred contact sports. Football and hockey are my main ones. Basketball if they let them play some.

 

[IceCyIce]

Just wait till professional Pickle Ball is in play. I'll watch that

 

[BryceC]

A big save can be nearly as exciting as a score.

I'm of the belief that you can find something to like about just about any sport. But it takes less effort to just ***** about sports that you don't understand than it does to learn the rules and understand how the elite athletes in a sport are really amazing at what they do.

Not necessarily directed at you.

It's also totally normal to have preferences. Basketball is my favorite sport by a mile. I think it would be no matter how much I learned about cricket.

 

[VeloClone]

It's also totally normal to have preferences. Basketball is my favorite sport by a mile. I think it would be no matter how much I learned about cricket.

Absolutely. I have preferences. But at the same time I have defended hockey, soccer, wrestling - just off the top of my head - in threads here because people talk about how stupid a sport is or how much it sucks rather than what sports they prefer.

For the record none of those three sports are my favorite.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Just wait till professional Pickle Ball is in play. I'll watch that

It’s a thing. I would go for the senior tour when I age in. I played a few of the top ranked seniors in the world and held my own. A lot of the top pickleballers have tennis backgrounds and they can’t cope with European style ping-pong background players. No look shots, tiger grip, tight angle play and the like.

 

[CloneJD]

I love contact type stuff, why soccer just doesn't appeal to me as much. My son played for about 5 years and my daughter a couple. I would pay attention while they practiced so I could learn the basic rules and such and several times they would have us parents scrimmage against them just to have different people to play against. It was just a local thing and more practice than games. So, I did have a general idea, haven't watched it any after my kids were done; but really sank home that I preferred contact sports. Football and hockey are my main ones. Basketball if they let them play some.

I get what you're saying but soccer is definitely classified as a contact sport (when played correctly).

 

[boone7247]

Soccer is becoming more popular because kids are playing it and adults can learn it and learn what its really all about. If you have never played or never watched, it's a terrible sport. However, I have a daughter that plays and I finally am starting understand the sport and it makes it more enjoyable. STill no football or basketball or baseball for me. However, I can now watch it and not be bored as hell. I think my next step is to follow a team.

I think this is pretty accurate. You can't watch one soccer game and then decide it is ****, and never watch again. It takes watching a while just to understand the rules and game flow. And there are games that are just **** to watch, no different than any other sport.

I picked up soccer to bond with my FIL, him being a Polish immigrant he tries to understand football, and I picked up soccer. It took me a lot of games before I understood what is going on and why. I suggest watching the USWNT especially at the major tournaments. They are very skilled, but things happen a little slower and allow you understand the nuances of the game better than watching two euro superpowers who can move the ball at the speed of light.

Ultimately I came to like soccer because games are typically decided by one maybe two plays a game, and you never know when those plays are going to come. Also, continuous game play is nice. the two hour commitment to a game is a lot better than all US sports but basketball, and you get a hell of a lot less commercial interruption. Yes you have to get over, no actual ending time, and Nancy's that lay on the ground to get a call, but the more I watch other sports I see this in them as much as I do in soccer.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I think this is pretty accurate. You can't watch one soccer game and then decide it is ****, and never watch again. It takes watching a while just to understand the rules and game flow. And there are games that are just **** to watch, no different than any other sport.

I picked up soccer to bond with my FIL, him being a Polish immigrant he tries to understand football, and I picked up soccer. It took me a lot of games before I understood what is going on and why. I suggest watching the USWNT especially at the major tournaments. They are very skilled, but things happen a little slower and allow you understand the nuances of the game better than watching two euro superpowers who can move the ball at the speed of light.

Ultimately I came to like soccer because games are typically decided by one maybe two plays a game, and you never know when those plays are going to come. Also, continuous game play is nice. the two hour commitment to a game is a lot better than all US sports but basketball, and you get a hell of a lot less commercial interruption. Yes you have to get over, no actual ending time, and Nancy's that lay on the ground to get a call, but the more I watch other sports I see this in them as much as I do in soccer.

The women’s game is awesome. I watch a lot of women’s College soccer. Straight forward play, not much of the diving, simulation stuff. Lots of goals because the field players are on a lot higher level than most of the goalkeepers.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

For me and baseball, it isn't the length of the game (innings). Keep it at 9, but cut down on time between the innings, pitching changes etc, reduce the number of allowed pitching changes per game etc. 7 innings would be fine from a viewing standpoint, but think about how many records will never get touched again if they shorten games/seasons.

 

[boone7247]

The women’s game is awesome. I watch a lot of women’s College soccer. Straight forward play, not much of the diving, simulation stuff. Lots of goals because the field players are on a lot higher level than most of the goalkeepers.

Yeah I think that is true in most women's sports, they are usually as technical as the men. In soccer it really shines through because of all the space they have, so the gifted technical players really stand out. And what they do doesn't happen faster than your eye can see. It really helps you learn the nuances of the game. At least in my opinion. I learn a lot more for female golfers for that reason too. They are way better technically than I would ever be, but I can at least see what they are doing and try to emulate it without having to slow it down.

 

[cygrads]

Baseball needs to limit the number of pitchers you can carry on the roster. Fewer pitchers fewer pitching changes thus faster games. Also it is really fun to watch a position player pitch and with fewer pitchers that would happen more often.