



By Jordan Vidor

Are we not in America? Isn’t baseball America’s favorite pastime? The latter question here, asked in haste by Jane Aubrey in the 1999 Hollywood drama For Love of the Game, is more debatable in 2012 than ever before. While the majority of the 20th century could indisputably dub the game of baseball as America’s national pastime, the late 1990s bared witness to a change. Sunday nights started to look a little different in American households, as did Monday morning water cooler talk and Friday night drinking arguments. Statistics rarely lie and in this case, it is too hard to ignore them. Football was on the rise, soaring to the top of rating charts at an astonishing rate. Baseball, meanwhile, began its descent into the rearview mirror. Was our pastime now our past pastime? Was football here to stay, or was this just something that America needed to get out of its system? While the number of factors is too great to count, there are four variables at the forefront of this recent preferential transformation that have contributed more than the rest. The 21st Century has witnessed professional football replace baseball as America’s national pastime due to a waning virtue of patience, the emergence of steroid and drug abuse among players, an obsession with violence, and the parity offered through revenue sharing. While the goal here is not to say that the adaptation of football into American culture is a bad thing, it is important to note that modern media is partially responsible for this revolution in sport preference.

While patience and laziness are two separate qualities of American lifestyle, they go hand-in-hand in reference to the nostalgic decline of baseball. In terms of simple math, let’s analyze the following statistics. There are 18 games in a regular season for a National Football League (NFL) team; a 2006 analysis revealed the average time of an NFL game at three hours and six minutes1. When multiplied with the amount of games, that accounts for about 3350 minutes of televised action per team. In comparison, 162 regular season games at a (2006 study) rate of two hours and forty-six minutes accounts for nearly 27,000 minutes of annual televised coverage per Major League baseball (MLB) team. It is no coincidence that a sport requiring nearly ten times the amount of hours in order to catch every game has slipped from being America’s number one sport. During the 1970s, the average time of an MLB game was only two hours and thirty minutes2. The increase in time per baseball game coincides directly with the increase in Americans who describe football as their favorite sport to watch. In 1985, 24% of sport-following American adults said that professional football was their favorite sport while 23% said baseball. In 2011, 36% say football reigns supreme while only 13% have stuck with baseball, which is the same percentage as college football3. The simple fact that football only occurs once a week versus six or seven baseball games has inevitably contributed to both the 10% decrease in baseball as well as the 12% increase in football.

Americans are impatient and with a growing preference and demand for immediacy amidst news and sports, it is likely that these percentages will continue to widen. The developing need for fast and timely action is not just visible through poll results, but also via attendance rates. Twenty MLB clubs had home attendance rates below 75% in 2011, with only two teams drawing 100% (Boston and Philadelphia) 4. In the NFL, no teams drew below 75% and nine teams had higher than 100% attendance rates5. This is a phenomenal difference in statistical evidence that strongly suggests a dedication to one sport over another. Getting the whole family together for a Sunday night game, whether at the stadium or in the living room, is a far more feasible goal than getting them out on a Tuesday night, let alone seven a week. In conjunction with a desire for absolute convenience, it is also important to note the racial ties that Americans feel with their professional athletes. 96.5% of the 2011 NFL6 was American born, which contrasts enormously with the 72.3% of MLB players7. Based on the assumption that Americans are more likely to make personal ties and emotions towards American born players, this is inescapably a contributing factor towards an ever-growing personal connection with football.

While the development of American character traits and immense media hype towards football are major factors in baseball’s decline, there are certain constituents that the game has done to itself. The primary, most obvious and most self-induced flaw with modern professional baseball is the surge of steroids and performance enhancing drugs. Baseball’s fan base suffers heartbreak every year as new cheaters are exposed, while the media grows restless and increasingly less forgiving towards the matter. The first major, media-hyped discovery of professional steroid use in the MLB is traced back to 1985 when Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics posted colossal statistics that immediately transformed him into a superstar. Canseco, at the very least, was honest with the media when giving the statement that, “Steroids were the key to it all. [He] was such an improved player” 8. 1985 simultaneously was the same year that the football-baseball divide began to become unavoidably prominent. Is this a coincidence? The difference in fan percentages continued to widen until 1998, when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire both set new records for baseball’s homerun record. It appeared as though 1998 might be the turnaround year for the MLB, that perhaps a few new records were all that was needed to restore our national pastime to its glory. The statistics of sport favoritism floated around the same numbers through 2001, when Barry Bonds topped McGwire’s previous homerun record. Then in 2005, the year that steroid accusations became the most bulbous topic in sports, the percentage of football fans jumped above the 30% mark3. This series of events and statistical changes sketches a broad outline of the winding, dwindling path that baseball embarked upon following the outbreak of steroid prominence.

The NFL is just as guilty, however. A 2009 HealthDay poll found that one in ten Ex-NFL players used steroids9. However, in baseball, it has been the heroes and record setters that have been put under the steroid spotlight. Indefinite hall of famers (prior to their exposure) such as Bonds, McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, and countless others were childhood idols to millions of Americans, as well as to children globally. To find out that these record-setting superstars were cheaters was heartbreaking to kids; it cost the players both their credibility and hall-of-fame likelihood. Football, on the other hand, has not had nearly as many brand name players admit to performance enhancing drug use. In the 2009 poll, 16.3% of offensive linemen and 14.8% of defensive linemen admitted to use. In football, it is the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers that make up the most likeable, relatable, celebrity-type class of players. In other words, the general public does not care as much about steroid use in the NFL because it is not the superstar quarterbacks taking them (at least to public knowledge). Also, after a high-water mark for steroid use in the NFL occurred in the 1980s, the percentage began to decline. While baseball has attempted to crack down on steroid use (and successfully has to some extent), “cheaters” have been exposed as recently as 2012, when the National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun failed a test for illegitimate levels of testosterone. While Braun eventually successfully appealed the accusation, this did not prevent thousands of fans from disgracing and “booing” him at spring training games. Additionally, the media again erupted towards baseball players’ lack of honesty and legitimacy, as well as towards Braun specifically. This upholds the suggestion that baseball’s fan base is so hackneyed and exhausted from steroid exposure that they have lost faith in baseball’s premiere players and thus, the game itself.

Aside from the occasionally aggressive pitcher throwing a fastball at a batter’s head, there is not much violence in the game of baseball. The sport relies on its sophistication, statistics, and a nostalgic element to draw fans, which is much in contrast to football. This is a point that digs much deeper into American culture, suggesting a developing pattern both on and off the playing field. Politics and the entertainment industry as a whole have contributed to a deep embedding of violence into our daily culture. In regards to cinema, the Netflix digital library contains more films under the violence inventory than any other subgenre10. In 2012, nearly 117,000 children from the ages of five to fourteen were treated in hospitals due to baseball-related injuries; the same poll reports that 194,000 were treated for football-related injuries15. In professional baseball, the most common injuries are torn muscles and non-life-threatening damages that can often be cured with a simple surgery. In football, aside from the inevitable leg and ankle injuries, head injuries such as concussions reign at the highest rate11. Head injuries are clearly more severe than muscle damage and are sometimes so severe that players have to draw their careers to a close. In 2010, the amount of concussions in the NFL rocketed 21% from the 2009 rate12. From 2001 to 2010, there were 33 reported concussions in Major League Baseball13; there were 159 concussions in the NFL in 2010 alone14. The moment when the whole crowd gets quiet, when everybody holds their breath in anticipation of the player getting back on his feet, sometime if he is going to move at all, is unquestionably a contributing factor to the NFL’s dominant television ratings.

There is a component to the National Football League structure itself that has led to its increase in popularity: revenue sharing. In other words, the NFL is a fairer league than Major League Baseball. The difference in leagues has sometimes been satirized by the media as “fairness” versus “unfairness” or the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Revenue sharing in the NFL allows small market teams like the Packers and Steelers an opportunity to win the Super Bowl each year, while the MLB sees the same big market make the playoffs annually. Granted, there are exceptions to the rule such as small market teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and even the Milwaukee Brewers, but major city teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox continue to have the upper hand, or rather the larger wallet. However, it appears that baseball is attempting to combat this trend. On March 2nd, 2012, Major League Baseball made it official that they are expanding the playoffs from eight eligible teams to ten16. Therefore, without implementing revenue sharing or salary caps, baseball has just increased the likelihood of small market teams making the playoffs and thus, more competitive and less anticipated teams winning the World Series. Baseball’s head offices have been aware of the sport’s decline in recent decades, making a league-wide change such as this unavoidable. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig gave a statement saying, “This change increases the rewards of a division championship and allows two additional markets to experience playoff baseball each year”. Perhaps giving playoff opportunities to more small market teams will revive baseball’s fan base and restore it as our national pastime.

Revenue sharing, stardom and steroids, as well as cultural traits such as impatience and a lust for violence have all played major roles in baseball’s decline. However, it is also important to take note of the media’s portrayal of these sports and how technological innovation has contributed to this shift. Baseball still gets an immense amount of media attention, but technological developments such as instant replay are conducive to the sport of football in itself. In football, each play is reviewed numerous times and from multiple angles before the next pass can be thrown. Baseball, on the other hand, involves too many pitches and, in so many words, too much of a “human element” that utilizing instant replay on every play is not feasible. It appears as though the better our recording technology becomes, the more football will thrive, while baseball remains at a standstill. So with triple the amount of American adults who claim football to be their favorite sport as opposed to baseball, it is undeniably clear that baseball’s glory days are on hold at the moment. Maybe the expanded playoffs will revive some of the game’s excitement, and maybe Major League Baseball will fix the steroid problem, but as Americanized human nature continues to favor timeliness and violence to the nostalgic appeal of a baseball game, it seems that football will continue to reign superior. Or maybe it is neither football nor baseball that is supreme; maybe it is something else entirely. In the words of Bob Greene, “Baseball hasn’t been the national pastime for many years now, no sport is. The national pastime, like it or not, is watching television.”

Works Cited

9. “1 in 10 Ex-NFL Players Used Steroids, Poll Reports.” US News. U.S.News & World Report, 20 Feb. 2009. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/pain/articles/2009/02/20/1-in-10-ex-nfl-players–used–steroids-poll-reports>.

14. “2010 NFL Concussion Report (End of RegularÂ Season).” The Concussion Blog. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://theconcussionblog.com/2011/01/07/nfl-concussion-report-end-of-regular-season/>.

7. “2011 Opening Day MLB Rosters Feature 234 Foreign-Born Players.” MLB.com. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2012.

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11. Bardelli, Rebecca. “Top 5 Most Common Football Injuries.” Yahoo! Sports. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-10128161>.

8. “Baseball’s Steroid Era.” Info, Lists, Quotes, Timelines, Statistics. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://www.baseballssteroidera.com/>.

12. “Concussions Reported in NFL up 21 Percent from Last Season.” NFL.com. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81cdf2d6/article/concussions-reported-in-nfl-up-21-percent-from-last-season>.

3. “Football Is America’s Favorite Sport as Lead Over Baseball Continues to Grow.” Harris Interactive. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.

6. “The International Origins Of NFL Players.” Business Insider. 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-17/sports/30409298_1_military-bases-american-samoa-pro-football-reference-com>.

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Services, ESPN.com News. “MLB, Union Agree to Expand playoffs.” ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7638357/mlb-expand-playoffs-two-teams-10>.

2. Silverman, Steve. “The Average Length of Major League Baseball Games.” LIVESTRONG.COM. 31 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/412287-the-average-length-of-major-league-baseball-games/>.

15. “Sports Injury Statistics.” Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford LPCH: Northern California Children’s Hospital. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/orthopaedics/stats.html>.

10. “Vladimir Kagan’s Blog.” America’s Love Affair with Violence –. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://vladimirkagan.typepad.com/vladimir-kagans-blog/2011/01/americas-love-affair-with-violenc.html>.