Baseball Strikes Out

American Demographics, July 1, 1998 by Lisa Krakowka

America is changing its favorite pastime. Baseball participation has fallen by 2.6 percent since 1987, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA).

This small drop over a decade may seem negligible, but when combined with the fact that the baseball market-namely the sales of merchandise related to the sport-has remained stagnant also, the statistic shows cause for some concern, says Mike May, SGMA's director of communications.

May attributes the lack of market mobility to the fact that today's kids aren't playing as much casual ball in sandlots and parks. "The unsupervised play that was the backbone of growth for the sport just isn't taking place like it used to," he says. "The market hasn't dropped, but something is missing in the motivation." He believes that several factors, including lack of facilities, the rise of newer sports like in-line skating, and a growth in sedentary pastimes like TV watching (it'a a myth that kids spend lots of time on the Internet) are responsible for the drop in popularity and for the stagnation of the market. "If kids aren't playing ball, they aren't buying equipment," he says.

May also points to a changing trend in athletics participation. "It used to be that some athletes would play three sports a year," he says. "That's not happening as much anymore because society tends to focus on the idea that if you want to make it big in a sport, you need to play that one and only that one as a way to get there. It's unfortunate, because diversity is the key to becoming a good athlete.

"The organized side of the sport is doing okay, though," says May." The kids just don't continue playing once Little League is over." SGMA figures show that the enrollment of children in amateur leagues grew an amazing 156 percent, from 1.8 million players in 1985 to 4.6 million in 1996. Despite this boom, which SGMA attributes to T-ball programs, the dropout rate is very high among children. "Interest is just waning," May says. "Baseball, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be America's favorite sport anymore."

For more information, contact Mike May at the SGMA, 200 Castlewood Drive, North Palm Beach, FL 33408-5696; telephone (561) 840-1165; http://www.sportlink.com/sport.>

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