MLB "seems to be overflowing with dynamic young stars," but once it "steps outside its own comfort zone ... it's as 'Faceless' as it has been in decades," according to an analysis of ESPN Sports Poll data by Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Only three baseball players in the recent poll are among the 50 favorite athletes in the U.S. -- Derek Jeter (13), Babe Ruth (30) and Pete Rose (50). Meanwhile, 15 active NFLers, six active NBAers, two soccer stars, two tennis legends, one swimmer, one NHLer, one sprinter, one NASCAR driver, one MMA fighter and Tiger Woods "all make appearances on this list before a single active baseball player" -- Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo at No. 51. There also "isn't a single player" in MLB who ranks as the favorite of even 3% of all "'avid' baseball fans." At the top of that list is Cubs 3B Kris Bryant at 2.9%. ESPN Sports Poll Founder Rich Luker said, "That 2.9 percent for MLB is a mixed blessing. It means the favorites are distributed more evenly across all teams compared to the NBA or NFL -- giving all teams a rooting interest. But no one athlete is big enough to draw national attention." But the poll is "about more than marketing." Stark: "It's about culture. It's about making players understand the responsibilities that come with stardom: Major stardom. LeBron-level stardom." Angels CF Mike Trout's "absence from this top 50 actually is a microcosm of his sport's issues." Trout is a "simple guy, consumed by his devotion to baseball and a set routine," and that is a "source of enough frustration inside MLB." In the sports marketing community, Trout is "viewed as a guy who owes it to his employers to do more to promote the game" (ESPN.com, 4/5). Check out THE DAILY's surveys on the most marketable MLB players, as well as the sport's most marketable foreign talent.
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ESPN SPORTS POLL: MOST POPULAR MLB PLAYERS (NOV.-FEB.)
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RANK
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MLB FANS
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AVID MLB FANS
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1
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Cubs 3B Kris Bryant
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Cubs 3B Kris Bryant
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2
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Angels CF Mike Trout
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Angels CF Mike Trout
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3
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Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo
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Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo
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4
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Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw
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Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia
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5
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Pirates RF Andrew McCutchen
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Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera
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LOCAL, NOT NATIONAL: ESPN's Mike Golic said of the poll results, "Baseball is one of the great regional sports out there, but nationally, not so much." ESPN's Mike Greenberg said, "It’s their biggest problem. Major League Baseball has a lot of things going for them, that's the next thing they need to address. They need to figure out a way to make their young stars, and there are a ton of them in the sport, there are five of them in Chicago alone, they need to make those guys household names outside of their local markets" (
"Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 4/6). L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said, "Baseball needs more personality." Plaschke: "I plead with the Mike Trouts of the world, Giancarlo Stantons, Andrew McCutchens of the world, even Bryce Harper: make baseball more fun this year. Show us your smile, show us your laugh, show us stories, show us more personality. Stop being so restrained and cliché. Baseball needs to be fun again" (
"Around The Horn," ESPN, 4/5).
BUSINESS STILL BOOMING: Cubs Chair Tom Ricketts yesterday appeared on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” where he discussed the state of baseball. CNBC's Mike Santoli said, "There's been this general story out there that the audience is too old, the ratings aren't great, maybe the economics are not necessarily built for the times or the future, but yet on the other hand revenue seems pretty good, value of teams keep going up." Ricketts: "Baseball is very strong as a business. ... It is still by far America's Pastime. I think people tend to compare ratings of baseball games to the ratings of NFL games, which it is not the way people consume their baseball." He added, "What the league is looking at is ways to just get a few less strike-outs, a few less walks, just keep the ball moving a little more" ("Closing Bell," CNBC, 4/5).
