Baseball no longer fan favorite

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The NBA season tipped off Tuesday on the eve of Game 1 of baseball’s signature event, the World Series.

Although I don’t have the statistics or ratings readily available to quantify my point, it’s become increasingly clear that baseball is a game that appeals to a much older demographic than does basketball.

Then, there’s the NFL, whose appeals crosses all demos and clearly reigns supreme as the king of American pro sports.

How do I arrive at these conclusions without the benefit of hard statistical evidence? By the number of calls we receive during our mid-day talk show.

The way the show is structured is that we encourage listeners to set the agenda by calling about the stories, games, topics and personalities that most interest them.

Oh, we had our modest share of calls regarding the World Series. But would that number have been that high if not for Shane Victorino’s key presence on the Phillies? My guess? Probably not.

Meantime, the volume of calls about the NFL and NBA kept rolling in.

Only a late – and spirited – discussion regarding the struggling UH football team and its head coach distracted our callers from their overwhelming interest in pro football and pro hoops.

It’s a trend that has been steadily growing for years. And it’s something that has to concern those who run what we once called America’s past-time because baseball’s time has passed as America’s favorite sport.