Just a few years ago, America’s pastime was dying. Here’s how Major League Baseball changed the game, and fixed itself in the process.
Not too long ago, America’s Pastime was in danger of being left in the past. As recently as 2017, Major League Baseball attendance had dropped in four out of five years with more than half the league experiencing year-over-year declines. Youth participation was plummeting and the median age for fans watching from home had risen to 57. And you don’t need sabermetrics to know that an aging fan base with no incoming crop to replace it can be a death sentence. So in 2023, MLB did something it hadn’t done in a generation.
