An HBO Sports/Marist Poll found that a third of U.S. adults consider the decline in African-Americans in MLB to be a problem. This includes about one in eight who think the decline is a major issue. Only about one in seven adults think of baseball as the most-popular sport for children to play. Football (35%) and soccer (28%) exceed baseball. Finances are a factor, as 63% of Americans say the cost of playing in top travel leagues is, at least, part of the problem. Additionally, 47% say equipment is too expensive. The poll was conducted last year from Aug. 4-7 and Sept. 22-24 among 944 U.S. adults, ages 18+. The telephone interviews found 527 baseball fans among that sample size (HBO Sports/Marist Poll).
MUST-SEE TV? In Chicago, Bernie Lincicome wrote the NBA "needs much better branding for its greater moments if it really wants any piece of the public's heart the way college basketball ... captures and holds our attention." The NBA is "famously fluke-free so that everything that happens is not a competition as much as a coronation" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/25).
SCRUM RUNNERS: USA Rugby on Friday announced that "six nations from North and South America plan to launch a Pan-American annual championship based on the successful European model." REUTERS' Simon Evans reported reps of rugby unions from Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Canada and the U.S. "met in Miami" last week "to discuss the plan." The event "would be run under the guidance of the Pan-American Rugby Association." It is "hoped" the event will begin in '16, and it "would guarantee each nation five matches annually" (REUTERS, 4/24).
