Baseball Vs Football Essay Research Paper Baseball — страница 3

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a team like the Montreal Expos. In the NFL all the money is disbursed equally and the salary cap helps to keep all teams competitive. Therefore, the league with the highest player salaries is not necessarily the league that offers the most competitive product. The only lesson to be learned here is that if you have an athletically gifted child you may want to direct that child towards baseball to maximize his/her payday. Athlete perception in both sports plays a large part in attendance, television revenue, ticket costs, and several other areas within the NFL and MLB. Currently the players in the NFL are regarded as the most dangerous and out of control athletes. The recent dramas involving O.J. Simpson, Ray Carruth, and Ray Lewis have given the NFL a serious black mark among the

fans. While baseball players are generally seen as a greedy bunch the football player is now seen as a criminal with little or no regard for the law. Domestic violence has now unfortunately become part of the NFL and MLB mainstream with several incidents documented in both leagues each year, yet the fans do not even seem to care about these incidents but rather focus on the more theatric, more serious, and more rare serious crimes. There are hundreds upon hundreds of domestic violence cases each year but only one stabbing outside an Atlanta nightclub involving Ray Lewis. Guess which one the public remembers? The NFL and MLB have taken several steps to improve their images with advertising, meet the player campaigns, and community service and only time will tell if these attempts

work but I believe for all the good that these players do and for all the positive publicity that these players may gather it will only take one player to ruin it all for that is the true nature of being a celebrity. Based upon the above information I believe that MLB players are currently seen in a better light than NFL players and as more favorable role models although they may be perceived as greedy. Entertainment value is hard to measure since there is no way to know for sure what people like to see. Obviously fans of one sport will claim their sport offers the best product. Both the NFL and MLB put a solid product on the field that is well attended, relatively affordable, and fun to watch. Therefore, it is my opinion that both sports offer equal entertainment value and

neither should be condemned on this factor. Both sports are so different that comparing their entertainment value would be unfair. As a spectator of both sports I am happy to report that I feel that both sports did an equal job in fulfilling my entertainment needs. I have examined both baseball and football from several different viewpoints and it my belief that football is truly the American pastime. Football enjoys larger average attendance, reasonable tickets costs given the season length, reasonable player salaries when compared to baseball, better overall venues, and football provides a thrilling and exciting product to watch. Football destroys baseball in television ratings and television revenue by demanding and getting television contracts that baseball can only dream

about. And what is a better benchmark for popularity then television ratings? Plus football’s championship game, the Super Bowl, is part of pop culture in that practically everyone throws or attends a Super Bowl party each year. The Super Bowl is the highest rated broadcast on network television each year and serves as a gathering event for friends and families. Some companies even give their employees the next day off, which means that the Super Bowl is practically on par with a national holiday. None of these things happen for baseball. While it is true that football does get a black mark in athlete perception I believe that it more than makes up for that in the other areas and while baseball is a relatively inexpensive medium for family gatherings the baseball games just

don’t carry as much importance as football. Therefore, I believe my arguments support my conclusion that football is the true American pastime and on a separate not I cannot wait for September and the first kickoff of a new season! Bouchette, Ed (1998). Steelers not awash with cash for stadium. Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 17 April 1998. Retrieved July 15, 2001 from http://www.post-gazette.com/planb/19980417QandA.asp CNN Sports Illustrated (2000). MLB Baseball: Average MLB salary doubles in eight years. Retrieved July 15, 2001 from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/2000/04/05/mlb_salaries_ap/ Infoplease.com (2000). 1999 NFL Attendance. Retrieved July 15, 2001 from http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0779227.html Infoplease.com (2000). Highest and Lowest Ticket Prices.