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Football gets better ratings than baseball. So what?

Nov 3, 2009, 10:55 AM EDT

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Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal thinks he’s throwing bombs when he compares baseball television ratings to football ratings:

Baseball likes to think of itself – indeed, likes to bill itself — as the “National Pastime.” But that time is long gone, a distant memory . . . But, give your average sports fan a choice between watching baseball and watching football and, well, it’s as predictable as asking your average, 18-to-35-year-old, prime-demographic, prime-time sports-watching male whether he’d prefer a night out with Ugly Betty, or with Jessica Simpson.

Setting aside the fact that Jessica Simpson isn’t on any right-thinking 18-to-35 year-old’s top ten list anymore, Donaldson is right.  As he notes, the ratings for the end of the Packers-Vikings game this past weekend were higher than any World Series game in even this highly-rated Series.  And yes, the Hall of Fame Game got more viewers than did a Red Sox-Yankees game in August.

But who cares? The notion that football has surpassed baseball as the most popular sport in America is at least a decade old. Maybe older.  Football draws better ratings because it’s, in essence, an exclusively nationally-televised sport whereas the vast majority of baseball viewership takes place via regional sports networks.  And there are 10 times the number of baseball games as there are football games, so catching any one baseball game is nowhere near as important to the average fan of catching one must-see football game.  They’re different beasts, and I would be shocked if baseball ever outdraws football in the television ratings again.

And I’m totally fine with that. Because Donaldson’s apparent point – that football trumps baseball as the National Pasttime because of the ratings — is an empty one.  Have you seen what else leads the television ratings? Or the box office? Or the album charts?  I’m not even going to mention beer sales in all of this.

Popularity only measures what’s popular. It’s almost always completely divorced from what’s good.  Pro Football can be the National Pasttime.  I prefer to enjoy a more exclusive, higher quality product, thank you.  

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  1. Michael - Nov 3, 2009 at 4:12 PM

    This one’s simple:
    Baseball is daily. Football is weekly.
    I might not watch today’s baseball game, but there’s another one tomorrow. And with about 5 games a week, there’s a limit to how much ESPN can hype any individual game. Plus it’s summer, there’s plenty else to do. And many more people attend MLB games, because it’s easy to do.
    But ESPN and NBC can hammer relentlessly all week leading up to Sunday or Monday. And they do. You can’t go 10 minutes on ESPN without a promo for that week’s game. Also, NFL live attendance is declining significantly this year – people are staying home to watch the games.
    Football is an event. Baseball is, well, like a comfortable home.
    Huge difference…in favor of baseball.
    They’re both more lucrative than any other sporting league on earth, so no one’s exactly crying here.

  2. Michael - Nov 3, 2009 at 4:14 PM

    Oh, and the NFL can only DREAM that the Pro Bowl would generate as much interest as the MLB All-Star Game.
    So there.

  3. chris - Nov 3, 2009 at 4:53 PM

    You haven’t watched a football game lately have you? Most of the time nothing is going on. Watch soccer or basketball if you want to see non-stop action. The difference between football and baseball for action is miniscule.

  4. Pat in SO Cal - Nov 3, 2009 at 4:54 PM

    Baseball is meant to be seen in person. Attendance @ baseball games far exceeds attendance for any other sport. The big four sports in America are all doing well and I like them all. I will say ,however, that for all the memories of games gone by I like baseball the most, Pop,Dad and my brothers going to AAA games, priceless.

  5. jenelle - Nov 3, 2009 at 4:57 PM

    hopefully the wide receiver is blocking someone….

  6. Corey Kendall - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:00 PM

    Hey Trey: I CARE about baseball. OK???
    I enjoy watching both sports myself, but I’m really sick & tired of the revolt against baseball. Why has this generation of fans turned their backs on baseball? What, is it because of Bud Selig, is it the steroids, or that most if not all games are played at night? WHO CARES. Maybe it’s because today’s sports fans are so spoiled by today’s fast-paced environment that they expect everything to be done & over with as fast as possible. Baseball shouldn’t have to be a fast-paced game. But Naw, all you people out there just hate baseball now because it’s too “boring” or not fast-paced enough because you have a short attention span. You don’t have time for ANYTHING anymore.
    Baseball is still a great game regardless of all the idiots out there who constantly denounce baseball every year like it’s some trendy thing to do. Football is a great sport that I’ve come to enjoy as well. I like BOTH sports, unlike most of today’s fans who only care about 1 sport or another & denounce everything else.
    No matter how much today’s society keeps trying to kill off baseball, the sport will NEVER die. Baseball keeps coming back year after year regardless of how many idiots out there hate the sport. Baseball will NEVER go away. How much more punishment can baseball take anymore?? Enough is enough. STOP the revolt against baseball already people!
    OH, & BTW, GO PHILLIES, I still think they can get it done:-D

  7. jenelle - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:03 PM

    I think whether you find baseball or football to be more exciting really is just a matter of personal opinion. For me personally I find baseball really boring, in fact if I try to watch it I fall asleep. Whereas when I watch football I find it very exciting. I live in buffalo so I don’t know if this has anything to do with the fact that we have no mlb team here, probably not it would still be boring, lol.
    But I do love the bills and regardless of how bad they may be I still love to watch it. It is always exciting. And do any of you people actually watch football? They aren’t just standing around for 40 seconds after every play, they are trying to decide what they think is the best thing to do on the next play in what is actually a very short period of time to get 11 people into position to execute the play how it’s supposed to be. I love how every player on the team has a very important role and if they don’t each do their part the team suffers. I think this is protrayed on a regular basis by the Bills who have more miscommunication and mental errors than a team should have. But as bad as they may play sometimes I still love them. It’s easy to love a team when they are, but to still love a team when they are bad is more about the excitement of what can happen on every play. In baseball all I ever seem to see is men standing around watching a ball fly over their heads or to a player on the other side of the field catch it while they stand there.

  8. jenelle - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:06 PM

    now with that being said, i think the ratings the sports get are irrelevent, even if i loved baseball imagine how hard it would be to watch all 120 games or whatever they play in a season as compared to the 16 regular season football games…much easier…so i really don’t think the ratings have anything to with anything other than the length of the seasons and the time in which these sports are televised.

  9. John - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:08 PM

    Because the teams are better matched, Hmmmmm… that must explain why this year there are NFL teams like Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland, Tennessee, St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Washington who have a combined record of 9-50 and who have lost games by ridiculous scores of 59-0, 35-7, 42-6, 31-3, 30-6, 31-9, 44-7, 38-0 and 37-7. yes parity is alive and well in the NFL. PHILLIES IN SEVEN!!! MARK MY WORDS!!!

  10. James - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:08 PM

    Both baseball and football kick ass, especially if you’re in a town with a competitive team, surrounded by people who talk trash.
    Unfortunately for basketball, I grew up in NYC and the Knicks stunk, so the NBA sucks in my eyes. That’s the true formula.

  11. jenelle - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:10 PM

    the team doesn’t even need to be competitive the fans just need to be dedicated. :) Which we are even if the Buffalo Bills are terrible, which they are, we’re still dedicated.

  12. Tony - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:20 PM

    Baseball is dead because the titles can be bought… (Red Sox, Yankees)
    Yes, occassionally there is a surprise team, but I’m sick of the Boston & NY teams dominating the sport because of extra cash. I don’t support baseball anymore.

  13. scatterbrian - Nov 3, 2009 at 5:56 PM

    Both the Yankees and Phillies will be playing their 15th post-season game on Wednesday night, almost the equivalent of an NFL season.
    Having a short attention span is the new National Pasttime…

  14. John - Nov 3, 2009 at 6:06 PM

    Yankees and Red Sox dominance? 2000 – Yankees, 2001 – Diamondbacks, 2002 – Angels, 2003 – Marlins, 2004 – Red Sox, 2005 – White Sox, 2006 – Cardinals, 2007 – Red Sox, 2008 – Phillies, yes it seems that the Yankees and Red Sox have dominated this decade of baseball for sure. But if you choose to turn away from baseball I say “Good riddance!” By the way let me add that I love your frozen pizzas. ;-) PHILLIES IN SEVEN!!! MARK MY WORDS!!!

  15. Jack Bond - Nov 3, 2009 at 6:28 PM

    I’m a Red Sox fan and I hate the disparity between teams. The Yankees are playing for their 26th title in a little over 100 years of play. Unless there are four teams in the league, that’s just ridiculous.
    Just imagine your about ready to sit down to a game of texas holdem but before you start, you are informed that two of your competitors are able to pick AA or KK preflop every time. Then they tell you that even if you outflop them, they are allowed to pick additional cards for the turn and river. Would you sit down at that game?
    That’s professional baseball.

  16. Marc - Nov 3, 2009 at 6:46 PM

    All of you are nuts. Baseball, Football, Basketball…..they are all dull and boring. Too much time between action, 1/2 the players are doing ‘roids or, in the case of the NBA in particular, fathering multitudes of children by different mothers. And I also hesitate to point out that Football is played with your hands, American-style. Less then 1% of the time during a game do your feet touch the ball. If you want to watch sports where it’s all action, almost all the time, try true Football (what we call soccer, btw, who came up with the name Soccer? How in god’s name does that represent the game?) or rugby. Every player is a true athlete, unlike an excess of our sports figures. The average Football player runs over 10 miles/match. And Rugby is our Football without the pads, time outs, and 40 second clock for everyone to catch their breath. It’s a shame MLS teams are so bad, it just doesn’t do justice to the sport. Try watching English Premier League Football, or Spanish La Liga. I can’t even watch our major sports except for Ameri-ball (what you all call Football that is played with the hands), they’re just too slow.

  17. Don Edwards - Nov 3, 2009 at 7:06 PM

    Here are some suggestions on how to get some life in baseball, and make it far more interesting:
    1. Make the batter stay in the batter’s box. In today’s game, the batter steps out after every pitch, loosens his left hand glove, fastens it, loosens his right hand glove, fastens it, looks at the 3rd base coach, looks at the pitcher, taps his spikes, and 15 seconds later gets back in the box. Fifteen seconds times approximately 300 pitches in a ball game equals 4500 seconds, or 75 minutes of wasted time. Make the batter stay in the box, or call a strike if he steps out. He can always call timeout if he gets something in his eye, but for heaven’s sake, speed up the game!
    2. Throw out the 100 pitch count currently in vogue. Let the pitchers pitch! Warren Spahn threw 384 complete games, or 20 per year for 19 years, with 4 left over. Juan Marichal threw 244 complete games, Bob Gibson 255, Gaylord Perry 303, Robin Roberts 305, Early Wynn 290. By contrast, in 14 years, Andy Pettite has thrown 25 complete games! He makes heroes out of a string of relievers!
    3. A final comment– spit, spit, SPIT…. spit, followed by more spit, and even more SPIT!

  18. smsetnor - Nov 3, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    Sometimes batters step out of the batter’s box bc the runner at 2nd is tipping pitches to them and they’re not getting the pitch they want. This is a fun game to watch when you know what’s going on.

  19. Grant - Nov 3, 2009 at 9:43 PM

    Why are you reading a baseball blog if you don’t like baseball? I don’t get it.

  20. Dutchman - Nov 4, 2009 at 8:30 AM

    Just as the rightfielder should be backing up a throw.

  21. Jeff - Nov 4, 2009 at 10:41 AM

    Football is just the sport that satisfies a fast-food nation full of people who can only commit to 16 games a year and need an excuse to pig out and drink beer all day. Of course it’s going to be more popular.

  22. Anthony - Nov 4, 2009 at 10:57 AM

    This isn’t a question of which sport is better; that’s comparing apples to oranges. It is, however, an argument that TV ratings, alone, are the measure of the national value and worth placed on a sport. That’s just absolute nonsense.
    When a buddy goes on a date, no one asks him/her if he/she got “a first down”; they ask if he/she “got to first base”. When stronger penalties are handed down for repeat criminal offenders, no one calls it “3 downs and punt”; it’s called “3 strikes, you’re out”. When something unexpected happens, no one says they got “an interception” thrown at them; they say they got “a curveball thrown” or something “came out of left field”. Even today, at the peak of football’s popularity, there are no songs on the radio about Peyton Manning. There were, however, songs written and aired about Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson. If you marketed a mint condition Johnny Unitas and Hank Aaron rookie cards, the prices would be about as similar as a Kia next to a Lexus.
    My point is, the title of “national pastime” entails far more than just TV ratings; it represents how deeply engrained a sport has become in our national psyche. Baseball is truly the American pastime and always will be. Sorry, baseball haters. Football, however, will likely always be the more popular of the two. After all, the girl that puts out is always more popular than the one who doesn’t. Still, I’m pretty sure you know which one you’re going to marry.

  23. Michael - Nov 4, 2009 at 1:28 PM

    The argument can’t be “which sport is better.” (That should be obvious. ;)
    The best sport doesn’t necessarily win, which is why we haven’t embraced soccer, and why the NHL can’t get a decent-money TV deal despite drawing more fans than the NBA.
    Both are in our consciousness. Baseball has the history factor and ubiquity in our culture. Football has the forced indoctrination at public schools, and gambling.
    Let the football people have their fun – it may not last much longer, if the head-injury research is accurate.

  24. Ron - Nov 22, 2009 at 5:25 PM

    Huh? A football game takes 3 hours to play. Out of that time, the clock is running for only 1. And the clock doesn’t stop after running plays, which means there’s no action for at least half of that hour. So something is happening on the field for at best about half hour out of a 3-hour game.

  25. Marcel: MLB Kicks THe NFL'S Derriere - Nov 23, 2009 at 11:13 AM

    For those of you pro-salary cap adherents who believe the NFL and its salary cap is the greatest concoction since the invention of the wheel, think again. Of the 43 Super Bowls that have been played, a mere 10 NFL Teams have dominated the Super Bowl Championship winning 77% of the Super Bowls played so far:
    1) Steelers- 5 Super Bowl titles
    2) Cowboys- 5 Super Bowl titles
    3) 49ers- 5 Super Bowl titles
    4) Patriots- 3 Super Bowl titles
    5) Raiders- 3 Super Bowl titles
    6) Giants- 3 Super Bowl titles
    7) Packers- 3 Super Bowl titles 8) Redskins- 2 Super Bowl titles
    9) Colts- 2 Super Bowl titles
    10) Broncos- 2 Super Bowl titles
    Meanwhile, despite the NFL’s salary cap and supposed “leveling of the playing field,” NFL teams such as the Jets, Lions, Browns stink on an annual basis. Conversely, Major League Baseball has had several different MLB teams: White Sox, Marlins, Yankees, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, and Angels win the World Series in recent years. In addition, several “smalll or mid- market teams,” such as the Marlins, Rays, Padres, and Diamondbacks have competed in the MLB playoffs in recent years. Furthermore, MLB’s World Series provides more excitement, more closely contested games, and better drama than the overrated and overhyped NFL’s Super Bowl. Of the 43 Super Bowls that have been played, maybe 6-7 Super Bowls, at the most, have been griping and down to the wire games?In conclusion, Major League Baseball is still the true American Pastime and has more substance compared to the NFL. The NFL is an oversensationalized media driven “style over substance,” creation along the same lines as “New Coke” was marketed back in 1985 and the Ford Edsel back in 1955 and Lindsay Lohan of the present time.

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