FREE ESSAY ON BASEBALL VS. FOOTBALL

BASEBALL VS. FOOTBALL

Baseball vs. Football: Which Is The True American Pastime?
In today's world of big time professional sports there are the two major players and they
are football represented by the National Football League (NFL) and baseball represented
by Major League Baseball (MLB). Now there are other sports that the American public
enjoys watching, however the argument generally boils down to which sport is the true
favorite of the American people: baseball or football. In this paper I will attempt to
examine both sports from several different angles to include attendance, television
revenue, ticket costs, venues, salaries, entertainment value, and athlete perception. The
goal of this exercise will be to determine, once and for all, which sport is the American
favorite and can truly be called the "American Pastime".
One of the single greatest measurable facets of professional sports is attendance. A
sport's popularity is in direct correlation to the number of people that will show up to
watch that sport. Overall 2000 regular season attendance in Major League Baseball was a
record 72,782,013 in 2,416 games for an average per game crowd of 30,125 whereas official
overall paid attendance in the National Football League for the 2000 season was
16,387,289 in 248 games for an average per game crowd of 66,077. The average per game
crowd is the measurable statistic due to the fact that the number of games in a regular
season for baseball and football are very different. A NFL team plays a regular season
schedule of 16 game however a MLB team plays a regular season schedule of 162 games so
average attendance per game presents an accurate picture of popularity. Therefore,
football appears to be more than twice as popular as baseball when measured by
attendance.
Ever since the introduction of television into American pop culture professional sports
organization have looked to maximize this medium. Television revenue is now big business
in sports today with television networks paying large amounts of money to secure the
right to broadcast sporting events. The Super Bowl (which is the championship game in the
NFL) is consistently the highest rated broadcast every year, which allows the lucky
network to charge ungodly amounts of money in advertising. The NFL and MLB both enjoy
large television contracts although their revenue sharing plans are quite different. The
NFL currently receives 2.2 billion dollars a year in television revenue, which amounts to
73 million per year per team. MLB currently receives 340 million dollars per year in
television revenue, which is divided up among the teams in a formula so complicated that
you need understand quantum-physics and theoretical mathematics just to gain a
rudimentary understanding of the distribution structure. These numbers are interesting in
that there are less football teams to televise which means that the NFL must garner
obscene ratings to demand that much money. Baseball games are on almost every night on a
variety of different channels and ratings can be considered dismal when placed in
comparison to the NFL. I believe the main reason for the ratings difference is season
length. The NFL season is so short and every game means so much that the drama level is
much higher when compared to the daily rhythm of 162 baseball games where losing one or
two games a week is not considered disastrous. If a NFL team were to lose 5 games in a
row chances are they would not make the playoffs however if a MLB team loses 5 games in a
row they may still win it all.
How much does it cost to see a professional football or baseball game? Ticket prices vary
but the average ticket price in 200 for a NFL contest was $54.14 with the highest average
ticket price being $74.28 to see the Washington Redskins (Washington, D.C.) and the
lowest average ticket price being $33.99 to see the St. Louis Rams (St. Louis, MO). The
average ticket price in 200 for a MLB contest $20.02 with the highest average ticket
price being $28.33 to see the Boston Red Sox (Boston, MA) and the lowest average ticket
price being $11.72 to see the Milwaukee Brewers (Milwaukee, WI). Once again the season
length and game importance being the most important factors in determining ticket price.
It is not realistic to expect a MLB team to ask for $75 a game over a 162 game season
however the NFL can because of the short season length. These figures only take into
account the admission price and not the added costs of snacks or refreshments, which can
be astronomical. However, these figures suggest that the best value for today's American
family would be to attend a baseball game.
Some say that the greatest part about going to a baseball or football game is not the
food, the athletes, or the weather, but rather the stadium itself. Today's professional
sport venues are more Disneyland than backyard and have become a gathering place for
families, friends, and co-workers. Many corporations now do serious business in the
luxury boxes at several stadiums and unfortunately the blue-collar presence that was
everywhere 10 years ago seems to be disappearing at today's outdoor events to be replaced
by the white-collar crowd. I believe the best thing about a sporting event is the crowd
noise, which can be a result of cheering, booing, or just too much alcohol. However,
there is nothing better than feeling a stadium rumble in your chest. Crowd noise is
dependent on stadium capacity and that is where baseball typically falls behind football.
The average MLB venue can hold around 47,000 people with stadiums in San Diego setting
the bar high at 66,307. The smallest MLB venue can be found in Boston at Fenway Park,
which holds 33,871, which is curious because as we learned above the Boston Red Sox also
have the highest average ticket price. The average NFL venue can hold around 70,000
people with the largest stadium being the Detroit Silverdome, which can hold 80,311
people. The smallest NFL venue is located in Indianapolis and can hold 56,120 people. In
addition to crowd noise the second most important feature about a NFL or MLB venue may be
their historical value. Many baseball fans will tell you the importance of places such as
Wrigley Field in Chicago or Fenway Park in Boston although the owners of those teams will
tell you that they need new and more modern venues. The oldest ballpark in the MLB is
indeed Fenway Park in Boston and was built in 1912 and the oldest venue in the NFL is
Soldier Field in Chicago and was built in 1924. I have visited both venues and will admit
that there is something special about sitting in a stadium that was built 80 or 90 years
ago and thinking about all the great players that have played there. I believe the
evidence supports the argument that the NFL venues are truly larger and louder whereas
MLB ballparks are known for their history.
Player salaries are often claimed by team owner to be the single largest factor in the
decision to raise ticket prices. Player salaries are now so large that the American
public cannot even make a comparison. The average player salary in MLB in 2000 was a
little over two million per year with Alex Rodriguez leading the pack at $25,200,000 per
year. The average player salary in the NFL in 2000 was 1.18 million dollars per year.
Baseball players consistently make more money than their football counterparts due in
large parts to the salary cap structures in the respective leagues. In the NFL each team
must field a 53-person roster while keeping their salary under the 2001 salary cap of
67.4 million dollars, however in MLB there is no salary cap so players can make as much
as possible. There used to be a system of luxury taxing in MLB but that system expired in
2000 so there are currently no salary obstacles to players in baseball. The luxury tax
system required the five baseball teams with the highest payrolls to pay a tax that
helped to keep the playing field level between large and small market teams. However,
with no type of salary control in use by MLB each player can receive as much money as an
owner is willing to pay as evidenced by Alex Rodriguez's huge salary. The NFL salary cap
has been lauded as the sole reason that the NFL is so competitive and a different
champion seems to emerge every year, however in baseball the same teams are near the top
every year and it is no coincidence that the New York Yankees have won the World Series
the last few years and they also have the largest payroll. A large market team such as
the Yankees can afford to overpay players because they enjoy a bigger gate and larger
television revenues than a team like the Montreal Expos. In the NFL all the money is
disbursed equally and the salary cap helps to keep all teams competitive. Therefore, the
league with the highest player salaries is not necessarily the league that offers the
most competitive product. The only lesson to be learned here is that if you have an
athletically gifted child you may want to direct that child towards baseball to maximize
his/her payday.
Athlete perception in both sports plays a large part in attendance, television revenue,
ticket costs, and several other areas within the NFL and MLB. Currently the players in
the NFL are regarded as the most dangerous and out of control athletes. The recent dramas
involving O.J. Simpson, Ray Carruth, and Ray Lewis have given the NFL a serious black
mark among the fans. While baseball players are generally seen as a greedy bunch the
football player is now seen as a criminal with little or no regard for the law. Domestic
violence has now unfortunately become part of the NFL and MLB mainstream with several
incidents documented in both leagues each year, yet the fans do not even seem to care
about these incidents but rather focus on the more theatric, more serious, and more rare
serious crimes. There are hundreds upon hundreds of domestic violence cases each year but
only one stabbing outside an Atlanta nightclub involving Ray Lewis. Guess which one the
public remembers? The NFL and MLB have taken several steps to improve their images with
advertising, meet the player campaigns, and community service and only time will tell if
these attempts work but I believe for all the good that these players do and for all the
positive publicity that these players may gather it will only take one player to ruin it
all for that is the true nature of being a celebrity. Based upon the above information I
believe that MLB players are currently seen in a better light than NFL players and as
more favorable role models although they may be perceived as greedy. 
Entertainment value is hard to measure since there is no way to know for sure what people
like to see. Obviously fans of one sport will claim their sport offers the best product.
Both the NFL and MLB put a solid product on the field that is well attended, relatively
affordable, and fun to watch. Therefore, it is my opinion that both sports offer equal
entertainment value and neither should be condemned on this factor. Both sports are so
different that comparing their entertainment value would be unfair. As a spectator of
both sports I am happy to report that I feel that both sports did an equal job in
fulfilling my entertainment needs.
I have examined both baseball and football from several different viewpoints and it my
belief that football is truly the American pastime. Football enjoys larger average
attendance, reasonable tickets costs given the season length, reasonable player salaries
when compared to baseball, better overall venues, and football provides a thrilling and
exciting product to watch. Football destroys baseball in television ratings and
television revenue by demanding and getting television contracts that baseball can only
dream about. And what is a better benchmark for popularity then television ratings? Plus
football's championship game, the Super Bowl, is part of pop culture in that practically
everyone throws or attends a Super Bowl party each year. The Super Bowl is the highest
rated broadcast on network television each year and serves as a gathering event for
friends and families. Some companies even give their employees the next day off, which
means that the Super Bowl is practically on par with a national holiday. None of these
things happen for baseball. While it is true that football does get a black mark in
athlete perception I believe that it more than makes up for that in the other areas and
while baseball is a relatively inexpensive medium for family gatherings the baseball
games just don't carry as much importance as football. Therefore, I believe my arguments
support my conclusion that football is the true American pastime and on a separate not I
cannot wait for September and the first kickoff of a new season!
Works Cited
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