What year did football become bigger than Baseball

[hawkchief]

1994. Realized what a joke of a “sport” baseball is during the strike. Whiny, overpaid players and greedy large-market owners unwilling to look at the NFL revenue sharing model that provides a chance for legitimate competition. The the K became an advertising billboard, further expanding how pathetic baseball is, and that the Royals would rarely be competitive, and the owners were simply trying to sell you something other than their product, so they could survive.

[Jerm]

A more interesting question IMO is when do we think the NFL took this stratospheric leap to the point where anything it does dwarfs everything else in sports and does it relatively easy…it really has become the only 24/7/365 sport.

I get that football has always been huge but it didn’t used to be like it is now where hell the schedule release will have bigger ratings than playoff games in other sports…

The NFL has really figured it out, hell Fantasy Football is more popular than some mainstream sports lol.

[wbbonneriii]

The Catch

[FloridaMan88]

Joe Namath/Super Bowl III.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by FloridaMan88

Joe Namath/Super Bowl III.

I guess maybe?

I tried a quick search to see if that really changed popularity but couldn't find much.

[Discuss Thrower]

I'd guess somewhere in the 70s where college and the pro-game became a bigger pull on the public consciousness.

[Dunerdr]

Major league ownership has really failed the sport imo. You have the easiest sport to put a kid in. It takes talent yea, but any kid can go hit off a tee and get involved. Football on the other hand gives kids one good hit and that scrawny kid whose hearts not in it is never coming back. Every kid should grow up playing a little baseball and be a fan to an extent. Baseball kids get to play 2-3 games a week. Football kids practice 3-4 times and play 8-12 games a year.

My son loves playing baseball he’s a 10 year old playing up in 12u. He wants to play fall ball and quit football then try out for a traveling team. But he runs home from practice and games and turns on YouTube to watch NFL programming. For the same reason he hates playing football barely any games played, he loves the NFL because every game matters. You can’t get him to watch anything about baseball let alone a game on tv (like there’s any of those available without a subscription).

Baseballs getting overtaken by soccer at least where I’m at. And it’s baseballs fault.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

Major league ownership has really failed the sport imo. You have the easiest sport to put a kid in. It takes talent yea, but any kid can go hit off a tee and get involved. Football on the other hand gives kids one good hit and that scrawny kid whose hearts not in it is never coming back. Every kid should grow up playing a little baseball and be a fan to an extent. Baseball kids get to play 2-3 games a week. Football kids practice 3-4 times and play 8-12 games a year.

My son loves playing baseball he’s a 10 year old playing up in 12u. He wants to play fall ball and quit football then try out for a traveling team. But he runs home from practice and games and turns on YouTube to watch NFL programming. For the same reason he hates playing football barely any games played, he loves the NFL because every game matters. You can’t get him to watch anything about baseball let alone a game on tv (like there’s any of those available without a subscription).

Baseballs getting overtaken by soccer at least where I’m at. And it’s baseballs fault.

Soccer is easier.

Run after ball, try to kick it that way.

I played soccer and first base softball as a little kid. Little kids can't throw accurately to first base.

I played soccer as a kid, but that never created a desire on my part to watch soccer. Soccer just isn't that interesting as a spectator sport.

I never played football, but yeah, I always found it interesting to watch.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

Soccer is easier.

Run after ball, try to kick it that way.

I played soccer and first base softball as a little kid. Little kids can't throw accurately to first base.

I played soccer as a kid, but that never created a desire on my part to watch soccer. Soccer just isn't that interesting as a spectator sport.

I never played football, but yeah, I always found it interesting to watch.

Solid point. My boss pushes his kids to play soccer because when practice at the indoor facilities or play there in the winter he can get a beer.

[DJay23]

I think on a national scale 94 is the right answer.

For me baseball was biggest for me when I was a kid because the Royals were really good and had won a World Series. In fact that's when I started following sports. Marty ball is what started pulling me closer to football.

[Chief Roundup]

The last MLB strike. I think that is either 1994 or 1995.

[RustShack]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

?

I’m guessing when people started growing brains.

[warpaint*]

Baseball has been a regional sport my entire life (I’m 47) but perception changes much slower relative to reality. Once upon a time there were baseball towns but even in StL football has been king for a long time. Football has been king for probably about as long as pro football has been more popular than college and its rise can be linked IMO to increased tv coverage and Americans access to it - baseball as stated ITT was made for radio. The survey linked at the beg of this thread by someone shows 1972 as a line of demarcation which makes sense when you consider the growth of televisions in US households throughout the 1960s.

[Easy 6]

For me, it all started in 1971... baseball bores the bejesus outta me