Baseball and race- a discussion

[ivesaidway2much]

Are you saying because the NBA approved the commercial that it's the NBA marketing to black people? I would give that credit to the people actually paying for the commercial.

We're talking about MLB marketing plans, not shoe companies. Have you ever heard of MLB not approving a 3rd party marketing plan designed to target African Americans? I haven't. Isn't it players agents that are responsible for endorsement deals and not MLB?

I was just trying to show how some sports are clearly marketted to African-Americans. But you want examples directly linked to the sports league, so let me try again.

Since I don't have a photographic memory when it comes to sports commercial, I used Youtube. I searched for "NBA commercial" and "MLB commercial." The first relevant result of each search interestingly enough were commercials that aired in October of 2006. The NBA ad, which was advertising for NBA opening day, featured Jay-z (African-American hip hop artist) rapping in a limo or something while clips of Kobe Bryant (black NBA athlete) highlights played in the background. Clearly the ad was targetted at African-Americans.

The MLB ad, which was for the playoffs, featured a white guy and his wife and some malfunctioning power tools. Although to the MLB's credit I believe (resolution is not that great) there was at least one black guy in the short clip they showed of the World series at the end of the commercial.

One sports league clearly marketing to African-Americans, the other one not so much.

What I see is the NBA making commercials using their biggest stars most of whom happen to be black and MLB making commercials using their biggest stars most of whom happen to not be black. Looking much deeper into it than that and blaming MLB for the declining percentage of African Americans in the league simply isn't fair. In 1995, MLB was comprised of 19% African American players... are you saying that MLB's lack of marketing to African Americans is the reason for the decline these last 12 years?

To me it seems like common sense that it's a cultural issue, but if you want to blame MLB, go right ahead.

Um, I didn't know Jay-z played in the NBA. And I don't think the white guy or his wife from the MLB commercial, played in the majors either. All I'm saying is that one sport clearly targets the African-American community with its advertisements, the other one not so much. It's the truth. Is that to blame for the declining number of black athletes in the MLB? I have no freaking clue. That kind of business and advertising research is way, way over my head.

[josebach]

Um, I didn't know Jay-z played in the NBA. And I don't think the white guy or his wife from the MLB commercial, played in the majors either. All I'm saying is that one sport clearly targets the African-American community with its advertisements, the other one not so much. It's the truth. Is that to blame for the declining number of black athletes in the MLB? I have no freaking clue. That kind of business and advertising research is way, way over my head.

Well, I'm certianly not an expert on advertising or sociology either. Maybe MLB should do more. I don't know. I do know that MLB sponsors numerous programs designed to target young African Americans like:
Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI);
The Baseball Tormorrow Fund;
Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life;
Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.

http://www.blackathlete.net/artman/publ ... 3125.shtml


It just seems to me that the problem is a WHOLE lot deeper than the wrong type of advertising, you know?

[AcidRock23]

I would think that the problem of baseball in neighborhoods of any race would be more because of real estate prices and expense of baseball fields being considerably higher than basketball courts.

[reiser]

It just seems to me that the problem is a WHOLE lot deeper than the wrong type of advertising, you know?

you are right...and losing the african-american player, and by and large audience, is just a symptom.

baseball has done a crappy job of protecting and promoting its brand, period.

whether it's been the strikes, the steroids, lack of attention to the history of the game, the freakin extra innings decision....all of these things have alienated fans.

[silverZ]

I go to one of the most multi-cultural high schools around. 90% of the black kids in my highschool don't care about baseball. The ones that do care about football/basketball/soccer more.

I only know a couple of black kids my age (18-19) that are really into baseball, compared to the 95% that are into other sports.

[Matthias]

Two years later, the numbers are up again: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03372.html

The percentage of black players in the major leagues increased to 10.2 percent last year, the first rise since the 1995 season.

The sport had reached an all-time low of 8.2 percent in 2007, according to Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

[CadensDad]

Another key thing is you can play basketball in your driveway, or in your apartment complex parking lot, and you can play basketball by yourself without having to find anyone else. Or you can play with 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/8/10 and still not take up much space.

Football is not as easy but almost, you do need at least 4 people to have even a decent game of two hand tag, but you can play with a few kids and generally play in a parking lot, or across the front yard, (just dodge dads trees he just planted.)

Baseball you have to have a big space to play, not to mention 4 items to use for bags, and at least 1 bat. Plus gloves for each player, and honestly you need at least 14 people to even come close to a solid game and even then it's kinda weird.


Basketball supplies 1 ball 1 hoop 1 person 1 small place
Football supplies 1 ball 4-20 people 1 medium size place
baseball supplies 1 bat 1 ball 14-18 gloves 14-18 people 1 large place.

It's just easier to play football or basketball

[Pogotheostrich]

Baseball you have to have a big space to play, not to mention 4 items to use for bags, and at least 1 bat. Plus gloves for each player, and honestly you need at least 14 people to even come close to a solid game and even then it's kinda weird.

I don't know about you but I played a lot of baseball with only 3 people growing up, one to pitch, one hit and one to field. The space is the big issue.

[the ROC]

I only know a couple of black kids my age (18-19) that are really into baseball, compared to the 95% that are into other sports.

and yet, they're all wearing baseball hats, so the MLB must at least be doing SOMETHING right in this regard.

[KCollins1304]

I personally don't understand the uproar there has ever been about how many blacks there are in baseball. There were 10.2% last year, but the overall population is was 12.08% black according to the 2000 US census. With such a small sample size of baseball players in the MLB compared to the the US population, I wouldn't be surprised to see 5% swings at least in either direction.