In addition, boxing had been a rung up on the ladder for minorities back to the 19th century – the Irish, African-Americans, and then Latinos. By the ’70s, more options had opened up in sports and entertainment rendering the boxing “gateway” unnecessary. It’s true that pay-per-view didn’t help, but long before that boxing had declined from it’s heyday when Gillette sponsored the Friday Night Fight on the budding medium of television.

I agree 100% with you concerning the gambling element of football, and I’ll add a third reason for football’s popularity.

In football, there is significant action on every play. However, each play lasts a minute or two, followed by another minute or two of inactivity. Makes it very easy for a viewer to watch intently, then talk to his buddy, then watch intently, then get a beer, then watch intently . . .

The second is the ability for the “fan” to experience violence vicariously in a socially acceptable manner. The increase in the culture of violence that permeates football correlates well with the decline in popularity of boxing. As it became increasingly unacceptable to enjoy watching two people beat the mortal hell out of each other, football stepped in to fill that void for a society in which violence is part of the fabric. It’s a modern version of gladiatorial combat coated in a thin veneer of macho jingoism.

Baseball offers neither of these ‘pursuits”, at least in nowhere near the degree that football does. The sheer number of games and the unpredictability of outcomes for even the best teams and players make wagering difficult for the average gambler (i.e. not Pete Rose). And while violence occasionally happens (see Posey, Buster), it is incidental to the action, not the main intent.

Remove or modify these factors from football and the fan base – and TV ratings – will shrink precipitously. Just a guess, but I would think the hard-core fan base for baseball is both larger and more firmly entrenched than that for football. It’s the casual fans that are there for the above reasons that drive the numbers.

“That game was such a joke, BASEBALL beat it.”

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201012120dal.htm

Only the biggest ratings in the history of Sunday Night Football

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/eagles-cowboys-game-ties-ratings-record-for-sunday-night-football_b86710

16.5 rating bigger than any world series game since the game 4 clincher in 2004 where Boston probably made up 90% of the total rating of 18.4

Next time you want to be snarky, you should check the facts. Isn’t that what everyone here usually does?

Indianapolis without Manning and New Orleans don’t have those type of fan bases. Bottom line.

I guarantee you if this was a Cowboys/Eagles game, it would have blown the WS out of the water, ratings wise.

*I think. At least I’m pretty sure, anyway.