The Yankees and Mets are engaged in their most intense battle for Juan Soto since 2000, but off the field there's an entirely different issue that broadcasters from both teams are sparring with.
After YES Network's Michael Kay criticized Mets radio voice Howie Rose over his opposition to MLB's “golden at-bat” initiative, Mets Voice posted a response to X on Tuesday, calling Kay “I politely encouraged them to check out the demo.”[graphics]”
“This is the problem.” rose writes“MLB viewership among younger fans has increased in recent years. Check out the demo. This is a bridge too far for me…”
X's post includes a link to a Post article that quotes Kaye's comments on his ESPN New York radio show earlier Tuesday.
“teeth [the Golden at-bat rule] perfection? No. Would you approve? Probably not,” Kay said. “But imagine the outcry when a player tries to do something to weaken a game that is about to be undermined.”
The proposed golden at-bat rule would allow teams to choose one at-bat during each game and send the batter of their choice to the at-bat, even if the order of batters is not determined.
As Kay said on Tuesday, he believes the rule will increase the spectacle element of the game.
“And all the people who say this is like blasphemy…what do you think? We have you. It's the young guys, we don't have them. So the best player in the ninth inning is the closer.” We need to turn it into an event that we play against. And there's no value in that because you can't change anything because baseball is not a sport, it's a religion.”
The Yankees broadcaster's comments came a day after Rose responded to news of the proposed rule with a post to X.
“What? Is this an April Fool's joke in December? Come on.” Rose wrote on December 2nd..
So, context aside, what do the demographics say?
According to MLB.comthe median age of MLB ticket buyers dropped six years from 51 to 45 between 2024 and 2019. The report said there was also a 9.8% increase in ticket buyers between the ages of 18 and 35.
in a separate report“MLB's national television partners recorded double-digit growth in the 'Adults 18-34' category” during the 2024 season, the league announced.
These findings parallel the MLB Fan Scores report, which was conducted by a marketing and technology company independent of Major League Baseball and surveyed 70,000 fans.
One of the key takeaways from the FanScore report is that 70% of MLB fans (118.8 million people) became a fan of their favorite team before the age of 17. This is the highest score among the four major North American leagues, followed by the NFL at 66%. The NBA was 60% and the NHL 48%.
FanScore attributes MLB's exceptional ranking to the fact that 39% of survey respondents who said they were baseball fans played some form of baseball or softball when they were younger.
