Will the fans come back if this goes very long? I think it will really hurt the game and fans will stay away?

Baseball is slowly dying already. The MLBPA proposal that includes more free agency and more salary arbitration is only going to make the rich teams richer and the poor teams poorer as far as the talent on the field. 

Playoff baseball is great, due to the intense pressure on each pitch and each at-bat. Regular season baseball just doesn't create the same excitement. 

I don't the answer but baseball needs to figure something out to get casual fans to come back to the game.

From the Great Google Machine:

MLB has the oldest fans among the major sports, with an average age of 57, according to a 2017 survey by Sports Business Journal. The average NBA, NHL, and NFL fans are 42, 49, and 50, respectively.

When these baseball fans die out, who will support the teams?

Of the pro sports, baseball has become my least favorite because of the salary issues.  For most part, same handful of teams are successful year in and year out because they spend money to improve and then the same half dozen or so who cannot spend or do not spend are annual cellar dwellers.

2 minutes ago, Cary Grant said:

When these baseball fans die out, who will support the teams?

I would imagine it is one of the top concerns for MLB.

Does anyone know if MLB has specifically addressed their aging fan base and/or what they plan on doing moving forward?

7 hours ago, theguru said:

I would imagine it is one of the top concerns for MLB.

Does anyone know if MLB has specifically addressed their aging fan base and/or what they plan on doing moving forward?

IMO they have not because their leadership is completely clueless when it comes to fans.  Selig was bad, but he did come up with the additional wildcards, which kept a few more fan bases into the late season.   Manfred is absolutely terrible.

If they wanted to generate a more youthful base, they wouldn't start all their important games at dang near 9:00 in the evening.  If you want kids to get excited about the HR Derby and All star game and the playoffs and World series.  Don't have an 8:30 first pitch.   Tell TV swallow a few bucks start games for fans outside of CA.

On 12/2/2021 at 2:00 PM, theguru said:

I would imagine it is one of the top concerns for MLB.

Does anyone know if MLB has specifically addressed their aging fan base and/or what they plan on doing moving forward?

They have a little bit, but not nearly enough.

As mentioned above, game time of meaningful events needs to be moved up to allow kids to watch.  They've moved up the start time of some regular season games to help get kids to the field during the week.

They need to really promote the younger stars more, but I think they're afraid to upset their old fan base.  Today's young stars are bolder and more flamboyant than the young stars of the past (excluding Mike Trout).  

This lockout is definitely going to hurt the sport.  I think the only thing they can do to help bring back the sport is to implement some type of salary cap.  You can't have players being paid more than an entire team's payroll.  If nothing is done, the contracts are going to get more absurd, and the gap between the top and bottom organizations is just going to grow.

MLB's leadership is awful and I'm not a fan of Manfred at all.  Hated the minor league plans that took the Single A affiliate team out of Lexington.  His conception that the other clubs cut out of the minors will be fine as independent teams is foolish.

I'm also not a fan of Manfred's idea to expand the playoffs by an additional 2-3 teams in each league.  You play 162 games for a reason.  Playoff expansion just makes the regular season worthless, a reason I don't bother with regular season NBA now that 10 teams from each conference make the post-season.

But the big issue facing the MLB is Sinclair's purchase and disastrous handling of the regional sports networks.  Sinclair, who faces financial issues themselves, wants to charge too much and over the top platforms like YouTube TV refuse to carry the regional networks.  As a result, I saw zero Reds games last year that did not air on Fox or FS1.  That's terrible for teams trying to build up their local fanbase.

And metrics have really ruined my love of sports in general.  Football is all pass happy, basketball is a 3 point contest, and with the MLB its too much homer or bust.  Less stealing, less hit & runs, less hits, and basically less action, with too much pitch & catch going on.  There just isn't much excitement with baseball as there used to be and that's a major problem going forward.

Not sure how the lockout will be resolved but I don't think it'll be resolved quickly like some think.  The players and owners have been brewing for this fight for a while and have dug in like they are going to fight the Battle of the Somme.

On 12/6/2021 at 11:24 AM, nees1212 said:

They have a little bit, but not nearly enough.

As mentioned above, game time of meaningful events needs to be moved up to allow kids to watch.  They've moved up the start time of some regular season games to help get kids to the field during the week.

They need to really promote the younger stars more, but I think they're afraid to upset their old fan base.  Today's young stars are bolder and more flamboyant than the young stars of the past (excluding Mike Trout).  

This lockout is definitely going to hurt the sport.  I think the only thing they can do to help bring back the sport is to implement some type of salary cap.  You can't have players being paid more than an entire team's payroll.  If nothing is done, the contracts are going to get more absurd, and the gap between the top and bottom organizations is just going to grow.

This.  Plus they need to stop it with this unwritten rules of baseball garbage.   Flipping a bat after a moon shot does not deserve the next on in your ear.

Finding the delicate blend between promoting Aaron Judge types, but still paying homage to Joe D and the greats will be tricky, but it can be done.  A move like having the HR Derby guys wearing Hammerin Hank jerseys was a great idea.   More things like that need to be done.   

Baseball is already hurting and a lockout if it runs into spring training will do much more damage.  No, a lockout will not ruin the sport because all the fans will never stay away.

2 hours ago, 4 Quarters said:

Baseball is already hurting and a lockout if it runs into spring training will do much more damage.  No, a lockout will not ruin the sport because all the fans will never stay away.

I will always return because I just love the sport.  It's rich history and modern day nuances.   Other will return out of true fanship and others simply because a lot of americans like paying too much for bad beer.

The last extended strike/lockout was, I think, 1992.  I stayed away from the pro game for 13 years in response.  And those that know me know how I worship the game.  If this extends into Spring Training, I'm done with professional baseball.  $20 beers and $75 tickets are bad enough.  

5 hours ago, bulldog77 said:

The last extended strike/lockout was, I think, 1992.  I stayed away from the pro game for 13 years in response.  And those that know me know how I worship the game.  If this extends into Spring Training, I'm done with professional baseball.  $20 beers and $75 tickets are bad enough.  

1994.  When they lost the end of the regular season and the entire post season.   Wasn't until the McGwire/Sosa HR race in 1998 that the average fan really started coming back.

They also had a preseason lockout in 1990, which resulted in a late start to the season.   One of the rare times that the Cincinnati Reds opened the season on the road.

On 12/13/2021 at 11:13 PM, The Raven said:

1994.  When they lost the end of the regular season and the entire post season.   Wasn't until the McGwire/Sosa HR race in 1998 that the average fan really started coming back.

They also had a preseason lockout in 1990, which resulted in a late start to the season.   One of the rare times that the Cincinnati Reds opened the season on the road.

I remember Matt Williams being on pace to challenge Maris Rogers homerun record that season. It got cut short because of the strike. I was angered from what MLB stole from him. I think I've attended 5 MLB games since then. Baseball lost me and I pushed on to basketball.