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i read something on awful announcing.com charting the past 30 years of nba finals vs world series. world series dominated for many years, but in the past 6 years the nba has beaten mlb 4 of 6.
younger demo trends basketball and social media isnt even a contest.
valuations of franchises have skyrocketed as well, look at the kings and warriors this past off season, and there are several teams worth a bill or more.
It's strong in some parts of the US still but in others it's not cared about and globally it's not even on the radar.
There are a bunch of factors in this, from societal (hip-hop culture) to media trends (ESPN favoring certain players and teams in coverage) to generational (diminished attention span/greater need for immediacy). ESPN has also alienated a lot of the MLB base due to its constant focus/promotion on NYC/Bos/LA markets and its sensationalism on stories people are sick of (e.g. ARod).
IMO, the NBA has done best of all pro leagues in marketing. The NBA is a personality-driven league while MLB is still mostly "teams". A LeBron or Durant has appeal to kids well beyond their regional fan base. MLB doesn't really have that. For the most part with MLB you're a fan of your team, and if they don't make the playoffs or WS, odds are you don't watch these days - far different from the time there were only three major channels and the WS was on one of them, pre-empting regular programming.
The NBA should continue to grow as long as they keep getting dynamic personalities to promote who can also fill highlight clips. Additionally it's a more accessible game - you can play a competitive 3-on-3, which you can't do for baseball or football. Courts are everywhere. Another advantage is that March Madness has become huge since the 80s, so you get to see and know a lot of top draft picks before they sign. MLB doesn't have that. There are a ton of other reasons basketball should take over 2nd place on numbers alone.
That said, to suggest baseball has no international presence is just wrong. Yes, basketball has more international leagues and always will, but baseball is making inroads in countries at a pretty decent pace. In addition to Japan and much of Latin America and the Carribean, countries like Australia, Taiwan, South Africa have all been developing leagues that have advanced players to the minors. Even some of Europe is getting on board. There will be more progress in China and India in the not too distant future. In that regard MLB has done a far better job of exporting its game than the NFL has.
There are a bunch of factors in this, from societal (hip-hop culture) to media trends (ESPN favoring certain players and teams in coverage) to generational (diminished attention span/greater need for immediacy). ESPN has also alienated a lot of the MLB base due to its constant focus/promotion on NYC/Bos/LA markets and its sensationalism on stories people are sick of (e.g. ARod).
IMO, the NBA has done best of all pro leagues in marketing. The NBA is a personality-driven league while MLB is still mostly "teams". A LeBron or Durant has appeal to kids well beyond their regional fan base. MLB doesn't really have that. For the most part with MLB you're a fan of your team, and if they don't make the playoffs or WS, odds are you don't watch these days - far different from the time there were only three major channels and the WS was on one of them, pre-empting regular programming.
The NBA should continue to grow as long as they keep getting dynamic personalities to promote who can also fill highlight clips. Additionally it's a more accessible game - you can play a competitive 3-on-3, which you can't do for baseball or football. Courts are everywhere. Another advantage is that March Madness has become huge since the 80s, so you get to see and know a lot of top draft picks before they sign. MLB doesn't have that. There are a ton of other reasons basketball should take over 2nd place on numbers alone.
That said, to suggest baseball has no international presence is just wrong. Yes, basketball has more international leagues and always will, but baseball is making inroads in countries at a pretty decent pace. In addition to Japan and much of Latin America and the Carribean, countries like Australia, Taiwan, South Africa have all been developing leagues that have advanced players to the minors. Even some of Europe is getting on board. There will be more progress in China and India in the not too distant future. In that regard MLB has done a far better job of exporting its game than the NFL has.
Excellent points.
I would argue that MLB has done much of the damage to itself and not just blame ESPN. The lack of any serious payroll cap has marginalized a lot of teams, moneyball only goes so far and it's gotten even worse the last couple years as other teams are joining the Yankees payroll in the stratosphere. This also increases the mercenary feel of baseball, you won't see another George Brett play out his career in KC for example.
Secondly, many of baseball's biggest names of this era have let's face it.....been largely unlikeable.
Bonds, A-rod, Clemens, even likeable Sammy Sosa is now a white-ish freak.
100% agree how basketball has the natural flow of highschool - college - pro that inevitably pulls fans up through the levels.
i read something on awful announcing.com charting the past 30 years of nba finals vs world series. world series dominated for many years, but in the past 6 years the nba has beaten mlb 4 of 6.
younger demo trends basketball and social media isnt even a contest.
valuations of franchises have skyrocketed as well, look at the kings and warriors this past off season, and there are several teams worth a bill or more.
more global influence with the nba as well.
2012 revenue: 4.3 billion for the NBA
2012 revenue: 6.6 billion for MLB
Average team value MLB: 744 million
Average team value NBA: 509 million
The NBA has clearly not passed the NBA, and it's not close. Maybe in the future but certainly not now.
2012 revenue: 4.3 billion for the NBA
2012 revenue: 6.6 billion for MLB
Average team value MLB: 744 million
Average team value NBA: 509 million
The NBA has clearly not passed the NBA, and it's not close. Maybe in the future but certainly not now.
Lots of factors affect team values. Its not a truly apples to apples comparison. However, if popularity is a forecast of things to come the NBA is well on its way. The NBA benefits from being able to consistently showcase their best players in international competitions like the Olympics and the World Cup of Basketball. And the popularity of American basketball in Asia and Europe has exploded over the last decade as a result.
youtube views are probably a similar difference with the nba easily winning.
If you're going to use that as your primary metric, then the NBA is 216% more popular than the NFL (8574374 likes).
If anything, using FanPageList data as your metric proves that certain markets are still baseball towns (NYC being the most prominent) while LA is definitely hoops central. I don't have the time or inclination to do the math right now, but it would be interesting to look at each market and see which league has the most social impact in each market.
If you're going to use that as your primary metric, then the NBA is 216% more popular than the NFL (8574374 likes).
If anything, using FanPageList data as your metric proves that certain markets are still baseball towns (NYC being the most prominent) while LA is definitely hoops central. I don't have the time or inclination to do the math right now, but it would be interesting to look at each market and see which league has the most social impact in each market.
i can use that as a primary metric comparing nba and mlb because we know both leagues are nearly similar in terms of ratings and popularity. half will say mlb, half will say nba.
100 percent will say nba and nhl is more popular then the nhl, and 100 percent will say the nfl is more popular then the nba and mlb, so you are incorrect.
im comparing 2 evens, while nfl is clearly ahead of nba and mlb.
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