10 Things Major League Baseball Won't Say

As of 1985, a quarter of Americans considered baseball their favorite sport. But with NASCAR and soccer on the rise, that figure had dropped to 14 percent by 2006, according to a Harris Poll, or half as much as pro football. Over the same period, according to Nielsen Media Research, postseason TV viewership fell by half; the 10 worst-rated World Series have all been played in the past decade.

Baseball's problems are worsened by inconvenient game times, designed to snare prime-time ad dollars. Afternoon playoff games are a relic, night games on the West Coast don't begin until after 10 in the East, and World Series games routinely end after midnight. "It's not conducive to new fans," says sports writer Buster Olney, who has covered baseball for 18 years. "No kid could stay up that late."

An MLB spokesperson says the game is "quite healthy," pointing to increased attendance, website hits, and fantasy baseball interest. But Gary Gillette, cochair of the Society for American Baseball Research's Business of Baseball Committee, disagrees. "The diehards will always be there for baseball," says Gillette. "But the casual fans have left in droves."