http://barternewsblog.com/2008/02/09/baseball-comes-in-second-as-americas-favorite-sport/ Up to date information on what's happening in the barter world. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:14:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 http://barternewsblog.com/2008/02/09/baseball-comes-in-second-as-americas-favorite-sport/#comment-2208 Gary Livesey Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:59:01 +0000 http://barternewsblog.com/2008/02/09/baseball-comes-in-second-as-americas-favorite-sport/#comment-2208 Consider that the US population has grown solely through immigration, not birth rates; and that immigrants bring with them cultures that include spectator sports enthusiasm. A good friend of mine who grew up in Czech under the communist regime and entered the US in the late eighties has come to love American Football. <br /> Both he and his wife were top athletes in their native land where there was no exposure to American football. Here in America, his daughter was prized for her basketball abilities in high school and her parents couldn't understand that sport-- which was not popular in Czech. But come Sunday afternoon in the latter part of the year, you're bound to find my Czech friend tuned into a football game. <br /> The point is, it might not be a reflection of the quality of MLB, the NFL or NBA, or even NASCAR. Rankings of sports by popularity might be more a reflection on demographics and the changes in the demographics--not the changes in the sport, how it's managed, its image, or the PR surrounding it. Consider that the US population has grown solely through immigration, not birth rates; and that immigrants bring with them cultures that include spectator sports enthusiasm. A good friend of mine who grew up in Czech under the communist regime and entered the US in the late eighties has come to love American Football.

Both he and his wife were top athletes in their native land where there was no exposure to American football. Here in America, his daughter was prized for her basketball abilities in high school and her parents couldn’t understand that sport– which was not popular in Czech. But come Sunday afternoon in the latter part of the year, you’re bound to find my Czech friend tuned into a football game.

The point is, it might not be a reflection of the quality of MLB, the NFL or NBA, or even NASCAR. Rankings of sports by popularity might be more a reflection on demographics and the changes in the demographics–not the changes in the sport, how it’s managed, its image, or the PR surrounding it.

]]>