Does anyone care about college baseball

There is always a lot of hype surrounding the BCS National Championship game or everyone turning their brackets in before March Madness but there never seems to be much chatter regarding baseball. So why is college baseball is not as popular as football or basketball?

When you think of baseball you think blue skies, warm weather and peanuts. The college baseball season starts in February, which is tough for any school up north because they are still dealing with snow. No thanks. Now winning on the road will be more highly valued than home victories.

Unlike college football and basketball, baseball gets the short end of the stick during the regular season when it comes to television coverage. Due to the popularity of conference networks, exposure should continue to improve. The new SEC Network that kicks of August of is promising to show 75 baseball games during the regular season. Another issue college baseball has faced relates to the quality of the product. As much fun as it is to watch someone hit a homerun, it makes it boring when you see it happen every inning.

The WCWS averaged over 1 million for its whole series this year , and the championship series have averaged 1. Source: Again, multiple news articles. I tried to find the most recent or highest result for a selection of sports, though struggled to find some sports such as soccer or gymnastics. While bigger than most NCAA sports, college baseball and softball lag well behind college basketball and football.

In , In college football, 25 million tuned in for its championship game this year, with viewership reaching upwards of 34 million this decade. Still, ratings only tell part of the story. Live attendance is also growing, particularly in the SEC. This in turn is increasing turnout at the respective college world series events. Take Uber, for example. Tremendous upside, but clearly some investors realized that the original founder was problematic.

Eventually, he was forced out. The answer here is a resounding yes. This is the crux of any deal: how much money can you make on it? There is a difference between Uber, which wants to take over all driving and transportation, and a local ice cream shop, which will have to compete in a crowded field for investors. First, baseball as a sport is already popular.

It makes sense that it should be easier to convince a current MLB fan to add in some college baseball to their viewing schedule than to teach them how to watch lacrosse.

The latter is still possible, just harder. Despite the premature calls of its death, baseball is easily one of the four major sports, and either second or third to the NFL, depending how you count. There are some concerns going forward length of games and pace of play come to mind , but this sport could tap into a well of familiarity.

The New York area isn't much of a college football hotbed, either. But that doesn't seem to hurt college football's northern exposure. And lots of kids from the Northeast head south to play college baseball, or they get drafted out of high school. High school kids from New Hampshire and New Jersey went in this year's second round -- and Adam Ottavino, a right-handed pitcher out of Northeastern, was the last pick in the first round.

No, baseball is as much the North's as the South's game. Holy Cross won college baseball's national title in , Michigan in '53 and '62 and Minnesota in '56, '60 and ' Yet most Yankees and Mets fans have no more interest in high school or college baseball than most Dodgers or Angels fans do. Aluminum bats? Who likes that annoying ping or the absurd advantage these rocket launchers give high school and college hitters?

But high school and college baseball were considered minor sports long before aluminum bats. Just about every male kid in America plays some Little League baseball, which explains the ratings fascination with the Little League World Series. So many kids -- and parents -- can imagine themselves at Williamsport. So many baseball fans are captivated by how tall and strong these Little Leaguers are getting at 11 and 12 and how some of the homers they hit look as if they could reach the big league seats.

High school kids -- especially African-American kids -- aren't playing baseball as much as they once did. Too many teenagers find the game too slow and boring. But high school and college baseball bored most American fans long before the football and basketball booms. Sure, people are going nuts about baseball right now at North Carolina and Oregon State.

But that will fade once football, then basketball, begins. In the end, maybe it's the media's fault. Maybe the media could build interest by promoting and televising college baseball more. But how can you justify promoting and televising a sport that so few fans attend?

We're chicken to try to hatch that egg. But I can no more explain that than why my right shoe was stained with tobacco juice after I woke up. You can e-mail Skip here. Member Name: Password:. TV Listings. ESPN Zone. Play Your Way. Team ESPN. Coaches Fundraising. Fan Profiles. Fantasy Games. Page 2. ESPN Corrections. Join Our Team. NFL Front Page. NFL Insider. RealTime Scores. Message Boards. MLB Front Page. News Wire. NBA Front Page. Nextel Cup. Busch Series. Craftsman Truck Series.

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