national pastime?

[Chef]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39741267

The overnight ratings are in. And it’s not good for baseball.

Football
Last night’s Monday Night Football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans outrated Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers (7.2 to 6.5).

What does this mean?

It means that baseball is America’s pastime. As in, past its time as America’s top sport.

We’ve known for years that football dominates this country. But last night once again proved it.

Let’s take you through the comparison.

The NFL game on ESPN [DIS 34.13 -0.62 (-1.78%) ] featured the battle of two 3-2 teams in small markets. It’s a game that only fans and the bettors watch. But you’d suspect the bettors would have even shut off the game at the half when the Titans (2 ½ point favorites) were up 17-0.

RELATED LINKS

Current DateTime: 09:03:21 19 Oct 2010
LinksList Documentid: 39742022

* Time for NFL to Get Tough with its Head Hunters
* The NFL’s Most Expensive Tickets of 2010
* Cablevision's Fox Blackout Drags Out

Fantasy football watchers giving football the edge, as my friend John Ourand from Sports Business Journal, suggests? Could be. People that own the game’s running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Chris Johnson want to see how they do – especially because it’s the final game of the week and a good or bad performance could mean a win or a loss. If 23 million people own fantasy football and 20 percent (2 out of 10) own those guys, 4.6 million more people potentially could be watching the game. Even if it’s one-tenth that number – likely a closer number – that’s still 460,000 people watching a game that couldn’t care about the teams or the fact that the Titans won 30-3.

The Major League Baseball game was a playoff game. It involved the New York Yankees and absolute mastery by Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee. It was a 2-0 game heading into the ninth, so it was anyone’s game until the end. New York is not only the largest market, but people love to love them and love to hate them. For what it’s worth, the game – relatively – did well. The overnight rating (6.5) was higher than last year’s ALCS Game 3 between the Yankees and Angels that aired on Fox (6.0).

What game did you watch last night?
Jacksonville Jaguars v Tennessee Titans
New York Yankees v Texas Rangers
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Vote to see results

Now, let’s get down to the final issue.

Some have suggested to me on Twitter, that it’s not an apples to apples to compare a game on ESPN versus a game on TBS.

That’s simply not true.

While TBS isn’t grouped with the sports channels, it’s a cable network just like ESPN is. And as far as numbers go, TBS in more homes (101.2 million) than ESPN is (99.96 million).

Yes, America’s sport is football. And last night certainly proved it.




that is until the nfl changes all the rules to the point it's flag football.

[TheBeagle]

That's pretty damn sad. It's hard to have a less marquee matchup than Tennessee and Jacksonville, and it beat out postseason baseball? Ugh. I'll go to my grave never understanding why football is so much more popular than any other American sport, as to me, it's the most boring of the "big three", but to each his own. For me, I'll have postseason baseball any day over football, and once that's over, I'll take basketball over the pigskin as well.

[dnbman]

America's favorite sport is football.

America's favorite past-time is shopping, followed closely by posting things to Facebook.

Maybe MLB should start playing Mafia Wars.

[IshHappens]

I'd rather gouge out my eyes than watch the Yankees do anything. I just can't get into baseball. Especially right here in the overlap of middle of football season/beginning of hockey and basketball. Waaaay too slow. Yeah yeah, I know. I don't understand the beauty of it.

[SWedd523]

I sat there and watched the Yankees/Rangers game last night (right after the Taxiera injury) and changed it after 5 minutes WHEN ONLY 3 PITCHES HAD BEEN THROWN TO AROD! Seriously, 3 pitches in 5 minutes?

If the pitcher doesn't step off the mound to reset, the batter steps out of the box to fix his junk or restrap his gloves 7 times. My lord, baseball is beyond boring.

[TheBeagle]

I sat there and watched the Yankees/Rangers game last night (right after the Taxiera injury) and changed it after 5 minutes WHEN ONLY 3 PITCHES HAD BEEN THROWN TO AROD! Seriously, 3 pitches in 5 minutes?

If the pitcher doesn't step off the mound to reset, the batter steps out of the box to fix his junk or restrap his gloves 7 times. My lord, baseball is beyond boring.

Can't argue against this, but answer me how interesting football is when every play is flagged, timeouts last an enternity and happen after nearly every 5 or 6 downs on average it seems, and QB play is absolutely attrocious currently? Now, college football has been a blast to watch, lots of excitement each week, but damn pro football is a snooze-fest.

[SWedd523]

Can't argue against this, but answer me how interesting football is when every play is flagged, timeouts last an enternity and happen after nearly every 5 or 6 downs on average it seems, and QB play is absolutely attrocious currently? Now, college football has been a blast to watch, lots of excitement each week, but damn pro football is a snooze-fest.

Easy answer: I don't watch Pro football

[teej]

Thank God I work Sunday's during the early games. I'm not able to sit and watch so it's not boring, but I still follow every game thanks to the TVs. Perfection, my friends.

[ziggy]

I've tried before, but I have never been able to get into baseball. Whenever I watch it, I fall asleep.

[adam187]

Baseball is boring and too long for most people today.

Football, while still dominant, is starting to go down the same path with its many timeouts and commercials. And now the owners want to add even more games.

More free-flowing sports like basketball and soccer are reaping the benefits.

Or, at least, that's the trend I'm seeing among my friends.