Lack of blacks in baseball

[manchild98]

Pretty good rant by Chris Rock for an HBO sports segment. Swearing in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFFQkQ6Va3A

 

[zoombabyzoom]

The only real part I disagree about is how he condones showing off, etc.

It's not about that, its about respect and manners.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Kind of went the wrong way after a while. I don't think blacks aren't playing baseball because of the old baseball traditions. I remember when I'd go to a game at Tiger stadium as a kid in the 70's I'd see 3 black guys and two of those would be be ushers. Even when more blacks played they still didn't go see games..

As far as we need blacks, I don't think we do because they're not going to games anyway. I remember when we first heard of Tiger Woods.."black kids are going to pick up golf in groves." Doesn't seem to be the case..

Maybe we need Jerry Seinfeld to speak about the white basketball players.

 

[Rebbiv]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/44425...of-african-american-players-in-mlb-overstated

In 1975, the highest rate of blacks was 18.5%. The same year, whites were at 71.3%. In 2012, blacks were at 7.2% and whites were at 63.9%.

So what happened? In 1975, there was 10.2% Latino ballplayers and 0% Asian. In 2012, there are 26.9% Latino and 1.9% Asian. Since around 2004, Latinos and Asians have made up 30% of the players, compared to about 10% in the mid 70s.

http://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/baseball-demographics-1947-2012

Major League Baseball launched its RBI program (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) in 1989, and has built four urban academies with three others being developed. There have been more than 200 RBI participants drafted. Yet this has not stemmed the decline.

Scholarships have a play in this as well. There are only 11.7 scholarships for college baseball programs, compared to 85 in football and 13 in basketball. There are even less blacks playing college baseball.

White Americans comprise 9.9% of the NBA in 2009. Should the NBA conduct studies and allocate monies to change the decline of the American White players in the NBA?

Sports are about the best players playing. Who cares what the ethnicity is?

 

[UMRules06]

It's about building and maintaining an audience for your product though. If what Chris Rock says is right then the average age of a baseball viewer is 53 years old, and they are mostly white. What happens to the sport in 20 years when the current population of fans starts to disappear, while there is a dwindling replacement generation who are even interested in the sport? The less and less mainstream it gets, the more it becomes like the NHL.

Baseball might be fine right now, but in the long run it might be bleeding a slow death over time. With the salaries increasing to astronomical levels that won't help matters either.

 

[Rebbiv]

It's about building and maintaining an audience for your product though. If what Chris Rock says is right then the average age of a baseball viewer is 53 years old, and they are mostly white. What happens to the sport in 20 years when the current population of fans starts to disappear, while there is a dwindling replacement generation who are even interested in the sport? The less and less mainstream it gets, the more it becomes like the NHL.

Baseball might be fine right now, but in the long run it might be bleeding a slow death over time. With the salaries increasing to astronomical levels that won't help matters either.

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/article...ld-people-problem-with-merchandise-highlights

Each sport has it's viewership getting older.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/03/19/Media/Sports-demos.aspx

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303843104579167812218839786

Kids accounted for 9.4% of the NBA conference finals audience this year, compared with 10.6% a decade ago. They represented 9% of the NHL conference-finals audience in the spring. For Premier League soccer on the NBC Sports Network, kids are accounting for 11% of the audience.

 

[UMRules06]

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/article...ld-people-problem-with-merchandise-highlights

Each sport has it's viewership getting older.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/03/19/Media/Sports-demos.aspx

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303843104579167812218839786

Kids accounted for 9.4% of the NBA conference finals audience this year, compared with 10.6% a decade ago. They represented 9% of the NHL conference-finals audience in the spring. For Premier League soccer on the NBC Sports Network, kids are accounting for 11% of the audience.

Yes but the other sports are staying fresher, trying to adapt to modern audiences. The NHL broke tradition and introduced shootouts for example, which were very popular (not so much anymore). Now they're talking about having 3 on 3 overtime play, which is also extremely exciting, fresh and new.

Kids would rather watch a guy dunk on someone and flex, then have a pitcher freak out over a bat flip. It's the times we live in. Swagger is in with both black and white youth in my opinion. Look at 99% of Sportscenter highlights. They don't showcase fundamental plays, they show guys dunking in people's faces or celebrating with a TD dance. Thats what kids see, and that's what they gravitate to.

I want to see the data 20 years from now if things continue the way they are.

 

[Rebbiv]

Yes but the other sports are staying fresher, trying to adapt to modern audiences. The NHL broke tradition and introduced shootouts for example, which were very popular (not so much anymore). Now they're talking about having 3 on 3 overtime play, which is also extremely exciting, fresh and new.

Kids would rather watch a guy dunk on someone and flex, then have a pitcher freak out over a bat flip. It's the times we live in. Swagger is in with both black and white youth in my opinion. Look at 99% of Sportscenter highlights. They don't showcase fundamental plays, they show guys dunking in people's faces or celebrating with a TD dance. Thats what kids see, and that's what they gravitate to.

I want to see the data 20 years from now if things continue the way they are.

Kids are about xBox and PlayStation. They are not about live TV. Look at the CableTV and Satellite TV industries. Subscriber rates are way down. You can stream just about anything live over the internet these days without having to pay a cable bill or dish bill. Even live sporting events, while maybe not free, the subscription rates aren't too prohibitive for the basics.

Younger generations aren't interested in going with "Dad" to the ballgame. And most of those "Dads", didn't go with their "Dads" to a game. It is even difficult to have them watch a game with "dad".

In the 60s and early 70s, I started in Pee Wee Leagues. Went to Little Leagues and finally to Pony Leagues. There is no Pony league that I know of these days. My sons did T-Ball and Little Leagues in the late 80s and early 90s and by the 90s it was co-ed and we stopped "keeping score". Soccer and La Cross have taken over youth sports in most areas. There is not many Little Leagues/T- Ball leagues as there was 20-40 years ago. So my grandsons are now being steered to these organized youth leagues.

Most areas do not have youth programs for basketball, football or hockey. These sports are traditionally televised in the fall/winter when outdoor activities are limited. It is not unusual for them to watch an NFL with "dad" or "grandpa".

Again, I don't think it has anything to do with the appeal of the sport as much as it is the reflection of the times.

 

[UMRules06]

Kids are about xBox and PlayStation. They are not about live TV. Look at the CableTV and Satellite TV industries. Subscriber rates are way down. You can stream just about anything live over the internet these days without having to pay a cable bill or dish bill. Even live sporting events, while maybe not free, the subscription rates aren't too prohibitive for the basics.

Younger generations aren't interested in going with "Dad" to the ballgame. And most of those "Dads", didn't go with their "Dads" to a game. It is even difficult to have them watch a game with "dad".

In the 60s and early 70s, I started in Pee Wee Leagues. Went to Little Leagues and finally to Pony Leagues. There is no Pony league that I know of these days. My sons did T-Ball and Little Leagues in the late 80s and early 90s and by the 90s it was co-ed and we stopped "keeping score". Soccer and La Cross have taken over youth sports in most areas. There is not many Little Leagues/T- Ball leagues as there was 20-40 years ago. So my grandsons are now being steered to these organized youth leagues.

Most areas do not have youth programs for basketball, football or hockey. These sports are traditionally televised in the fall/winter when outdoor activities are limited. It is not unusual for them to watch an NFL with "dad" or "grandpa".

Again, I don't think it has anything to do with the appeal of the sport as much as it is the reflection of the times.

I think there are many factors, including what you just talked about here. Attention spans are minimal at best with kids, so getting them to sit through a 3 hour plus baseball game which is a slow moving sport is tough to do. I just don't think kids find baseball as appealing as other sports, because it has a very old-fashioned feel to it. You can watch a game from 1930 and its still basically the same game as today (other than instant replay).

I love the game, and just want to see it remain as popular as ever moving forward. I just don't like the signs I'm seeing.

 

[tinselwolverine]

If Chris Rock wants to give a compelling reason for black youths to return to baseball, he could point out that in recent memory, no young black men have been shot to death by white racist cops at a major-league baseball game.

So there's the whole safety factor to take into account.

 

[manchild98]

I think there are many factors, including what you just talked about here. Attention spans are minimal at best with kids, so getting them to sit through a 3 hour plus baseball game which is a slow moving sport is tough to do. I just don't think kids find baseball as appealing as other sports, because it has a very old-fashioned feel to it. You can watch a game from 1930 and its still basically the same game as today (other than instant replay).

I love the game, and just want to see it remain as popular as ever moving forward. I just don't like the signs I'm seeing.

I absolutely love watching baseball...but I did quit after 6th grade because I thought it was just too slow. I played again in 9th grade but then that was it. I played center field that year and remember that I was pretty lucky if I got 2 balls hit to me in a game. I stayed with soccer, basketball and ran track....sports where I was moving around a lot more.