Saving America’s Pastime: A Comprehensive Look into the Successes & Failures of Major League Baseball in the 21st Century

From the early-1900s to mid-2000s, Major League Baseball (MLB) saw an incredible rise in popularity and attendance numbers. The league was among the highest attended live spectator events across the United States of America, reaching numbers close to 80 million total fans in yearly turnout. However, over the last 15-20 years, MLB saw these numbers drop significantly. This thesis examines these trends and analyzes the multiple reasons behind this decline, including rising cost, the increasing availability of live-streaming services, changes in rules and strategy, and more. Lastly, MLB’s recent efforts to reverse this trend are discussed along with recommendations on how the sport can continue its path to truly reclaiming the title of America’s Pastime.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Maxwell, Colin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Peterson, Brian

• Sports Attendance
• Live Spectator Events
• Sports
• Entertainment
• Baseball

Statement dc:rights

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/33274

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F33274