Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

Baseball Participation Rates Jump Again, Particularly Among Casuals

Casual play for baseball has grown 49.1% and baseball has added 2.5 million new participantsGetty Images

Participation in baseball has again posted sizable gains, according to new data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Measures for '17 showed baseball participation grew 6% overall and 12.9% for casual participation. That follows 7.7% and 18.4% growth, respectively, in ’16. Over a three-year span -- a period roughly corresponding with the implementation of MLB's Play Ball youth participation effort -- casual play for baseball has grown 49.1%, and baseball has added 2.5 million new participants. MLB Exec VP/Baseball & Softball Development Tony Reagins said, "The upticks we’re continuing to see are really encouraging. When you look at casual play in particular and the numbers of new people playing, that indicates a real level of engagement and that they are touching our game. And what that ideally translates to is the beginning of a lifelong period of fandom.”

ALL-AROUND EFFORT: MLB has brought in numerous partners to assist with Play Ball, including MLB teams, MiLB, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Little League Baseball & Softball, as well as MLB sponsors Scott’s, Chevrolet, Nathan’s and Kingsford. Numerous youth engagement efforts involving this wider group are planned for this spring and summer including a return to Williamsport, Pa., to stage a regular season MLB game parallel to the Little League World Series. The growth measures in overall participation for baseball outstrip that for any other major sport, including basketball (+4.7%), lacrosse (+3.9%), soccer (-0.1%), tackle football (-4.7%) and ice hockey (-5.7%).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/04/12/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Baseball.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/04/12/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Baseball.aspx

CLOSE