Why MLB is Struggling to Attract Younger Fans

Photo Credit: Luis Cinco

To me, baseball has and always will be the greatest sport on the planet. Ever since I could remember, I’ve been captivated by the game and its intricate play. Unfortunately, many people my age seemingly dismiss the sport as “boring” or “uninteresting”. Why is this the case? Well to put it simply, MLB has continually failed to make the game appealing to younger fans while other sports have seen their youth audiences grow exponentially over the years. While it may seem like a fundamental issue deep-rooted in the sport itself, I believe that the real issue is MLB’s failure to adhere to the needs of the youth, rather catering to its die-hard fans to maintain the “integrity” of the game.

A 2017 study by the Sports Business Journal found that the average age of an MLB fan was 57 years old. This number is much higher than the average age of NBA, NHL and NFL fans, which were 42, 49, and 50 respectively. This drastic difference in age goes to show how ineffective MLB has been in its attempts to draw in younger audiences. To me, this issue has two causes: the current state of the game of baseball and the culture surrounding it.

The Game of Baseball

Photo Credit: InsideHook

This issue itself has many different aspects, but what I believe to be the biggest culprit of them all is, the pace of play. The average time of an MLB game in 2021 was just over three hours, almost an hour longer than most other sports except for the NFL. This has been an issue that MLB has tried fixing in recent years with the elimination of intentional walks and limiting pitching changes, but the problem persists. A study by National Arms Race found that out of those three hours, only about 18 minutes or 10% of the game, actually was live-action, meaning that there was an incredible amount of downtime throughout the game. When I have tried to get my non-baseball fan friends to sit down and watch a game, most times they lose interest after a few innings of play. Young sports fans want exciting moments and continued action, not pitchers and batters taking up to 20 or 30 seconds to throw one pitch during an at-bat. Now I am not saying that MLB needs to completely change the makeup of the game, I am simply emphasizing the need to reduce downtime during games to keep fans engaged throughout all nine innings.

Baseball Culture

Photo Credit: USA Today

What makes the NFL and NBA so exciting to watch, is the sheer amount of emotion and personality that is displayed by its players. This type of engagement is (typically) praised throughout their leagues by players and coaches alike, garnering an environment that promotes creativity and individuality. MLB on the other hand has an almost opposite approach to this, with many players, coaches and even fans showing opposition to this type of personality being displayed. Take for example, Jose Bautista’s infamous bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS. After hitting a clutch home run to cap off an unbelievable comeback, Bautista threw his bat high into the air and stared down the pitcher before rounding the bases. This was met with criticism from both players and older baseball fans, who said that it was disrespectful and should not be part of the game. This mentality is what is holding baseball back from truly being appreciated by younger fans. They want to see home runs, bat flips and personality from the game's best players, not just a bunch of athletes adhering to the “unwritten rules” because older fans think it’s ruining the integrity of the game. Younger fans love seeing controversy and rebels, they make sports more appealing and exciting to watch, it encourages them to continue watching again and again. This mentality that MLB has of adhering to the die-hard fans, almost handicapping the sport from evolving, is just driving young audiences further and further away from the sport I love.

While MLB has a lot of issues currently that are preventing them from growing their audience, they have all the power to fix these problems. However, if they don’t capitalize on the opportunities at hand in a timely manner, the gap between MLB and younger fans will only continue to grow.

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