Press release Major League Baseball
With nearly 25 million participants, baseball and softball combined to rank as the most participated team sports in the United States in 2016 according to the annual report produced by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), Major League Baseball announced today. Findings in this year’s Topline Participation Report were presented during the quarterly MLB owners meetings, which concluded today, and included the following data:
- Overall baseball participation increased by 7.7% and slow-pitch softball participation increased by 8.1% in 2016, with casual participation in both baseball and slow-pitch softball showing the highest growth.
- In 2016, casual participation in baseball rose by 18.1% and slow-pitch softball increased by 12.4%.
- Casual participation in baseball and slow-pitch softball is up 34% over the last five years.
- When combined, baseball and softball (fast-and slow-pitch) have more casual participants than any other sport (10.25 million total casual participants).
Tom Cove, SFIA President and CEO said: “The growth in Baseball and Softball participation is significant as traditional team sports do not usually see these kind of double digit increases. These numbers suggest something special is happening with baseball and softball. We believe basic efforts to put a ball, bat and glove in more young people’s hands really connect with the joy of the game. The biggest increases are in casual participation, and this uptick represents a huge opportunity for the baseball and softball community to build ongoing and deeper player engagement with the game in the future.”
Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said: “No goal is more important to Major League Baseball than making baseball and softball accessible and to engage with children in all communities. The results of the SFIA Report demonstrate that participation in baseball and softball is growing. We are encouraged by the success of the PLAY BALL initiative toward our objectives and grateful for partnerships with USA Baseball, USA Softball and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Together, we will continue to work to provide memorable experiences for young people, especially those from underserved areas.”
In 2015, Major League Baseball launched the “PLAY BALL” initiative as the sport’s largest collective effort to encourage young people to participate in baseball- or softball-related activities, including formal leagues, special events and casual forms of play. PLAY BALL events have become MLB’s signature youth engagement activity during the professional and amateur baseball and softball calendar, particularly in connection with key dates from Spring Training, through the MLB Championship Season and into the Postseason and World Series. PLAY BALL aims to highlight the fun and community-focused natures of the game at the Major League, professional, amateur and youth levels. In addition to flagship partnerships with USA Baseball and USA Softball, PLAY BALL is also supported by all 30 MLB Clubs, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and MLB Corporate Partners Chevrolet, Scotts and Nathan’s Famous. In 2016, MLB Network launched Play Ball, a weekly player interview and demonstration show geared toward kids. In the program, MLB stars, including Bryce Harper, Dexter Fowler, Francisco Lindor and Anthony Rizzo, have discussed their experiences reaching the Major Leagues and shared tips in one-on-one demonstrations and conversations with MLB Network analysts. Currently in its second season, Play Ball is available on multiple platforms, including MLB Network, MLB At Bat, MLB.com and Facebook.
“We are pleased to see that this latest round of SFIA data showcases baseball and softball as healthy and flourishing sports,” said Paul Seiler, Executive Director/CEO of USA Baseball. “While this progress is encouraging, we remain steadfast in furthering the many sport development initiatives that have helped to make this growth possible. The collective effort being led by MLB, its 30 Clubs, USA Baseball and USA Softball, as well as the support of the many national amateur organizations around the country, is having a discernible impact on families and communities in the United States.”
“Seeing the growth of both baseball and softball means that opportunities continue to expand for people to get involved in bat and ball sports,” said USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress. “We are honored to be partnered with MLB and USA Baseball for the PLAY BALL initiative and believe that the efforts of all three organizations has greatly contributed to the growth in participation in both sports. By putting a bat and ball in kids’ hands and growing the game at the grassroots level, it fosters a passion and love for the game, which is the reason why so many get involved in our great sports. We look forward to continuing to work with MLB and USA Baseball in providing more opportunities for young people across the country to get involved in baseball and softball.”
Mick Cornett, Mayor of Oklahoma City & President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said: “The U.S. Conference of Mayors is pleased to have joined Major League Baseball over the past three years on its Play Ball program. Over 200 mayors this summer will be conducting activities to promote our great national pastime and encourage kids to have active and healthy lifestyles. The numbers being released today on the growth of baseball and softball in our cities by young people shows that our efforts are working.”
This is so sad.
When Rob Manfred took over as MLB Commissioner 16 months ago, he proclaimed increasing youth participation to be his highest priority.
MLB has an unfortunately dishonest history of treating every actual problem as a public relations exercise (instead of attacking a problem, they try to make their audience think it either doesn’t exist or or convince us that the elephant sitting before us is actually a mouse with a thyroid condition).
So it is again.
The actual challenge to baseball is that our game is losing participants and, as a result, support. At a rate it cannot long stand. In 2000, there were 8.8 million youth players between ages 6 & 17. By 2013, that figure had shrunk to 5.3 million.
In 2014, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association counted 6.7 million youth baseball players vs. 7.6 million youth soccer players.
The impacts on MLB are significant because our sport is unusual: 69% of avid baseball fans have played the game at some point (not true of other sports). Thus World Series viewers have shrunk from 36 million in 1991 to 23 million last year (it was actually around 15 million the decade before 2016). The average age of an MLB fan has risen to 55+ years — dramatically higher than any other US sport.
MLB’s latest answer to try arguing that the combination of baseball AND softball is the largest in US. (So what? By the same logic, American football and soccer — “football” to the rest of the world – is far greater).
Once again MLB has quickly lost interest in solving the problem; and now wishes to change the conversation instead. This may particularly confuse Europeans because your softball competition is stronger. While European mens’ fast-pitch softball is world class, almost all adult softball in the US is a recreational activity but not a competitive sport. US softball is almost all co-ed (men & women) church leagues. There are but a few hundred mens’ fast-pitch competitors among our 300 million+. Womens’ fast-pitch softball is very competitive at the college level.
While there are similarities, baseball and softball are different sports.
Certainly, we are allies. But, it is disingenuous to attempt to cover up our loss of young baseball players by throwing softball into the mix. It is a false computation. And it does nothing to address the threat posed by reduced participation.
Hey Fred, why do you even bother posting on here? Your Debbie Downer routine contributes nothing to the conversation, the website, or the game. Go take up another sport, or at least find another site to troll on.
Poor JohnnySweetiepie.
When someone writes about the game’s challenges, does that frost your widdle cheer leader uniform? Do your widdle pom poms wilt?
If you have something to say that’s RELEVANT to the issues raised in a post, by all means put in your 2 cents’ worth. (I doubt you do.)
I dare say having been in this game over 40 years as player and coach, I’ve forgotten more than you’ll ever know about the game.
If you can’t handle serious discussion about real issues which challenge the game some of us have actually invested years in, go hide under your bed.
Otherwise, restrict your comments to the “rah rah rah” which would seem to limit your competence. Tell us, John, what have you done in this game, anyway?