How Baseball Survived the Great Depression

Baseball remains today one of America’s most popular sports, and furthermore, baseball is one of America’s most successful forms of entertainment. As a result, Baseball is an economic being of its own. However, the sustainability of any professional sport organization depends directly on its economic capabilities. For example, in Baseball, all revenue is a product of the fans reaction to ticket prices, advertisements, television contracts, etc. During the devastating Great Depression in 1929, the fans of baseball experienced fiscal suffering. The appeal of baseball declined as more and more people were trying to make enough money to live. There was a significant drop in attention, attendance, and enjoyment. Although baseball’s vitality might have seemed threatened by the overwhelming Great Depression, the baseball community modernized their sport by implementing new changes that resulted in the game’s survival.

Radio broadcasting was one development that kept “America’s Pastime” alive, and provided the sport with additional audience. During these rough times, many people could not afford tickets to baseball games, so listening to the radio was an option that was very appealing. Naturally, some baseball club owners claimed that putting games on the air was hurting attendance. However, evidence shows that the radio broadcasting caused more people to gain interest in the sport, causing more people to attend the sport. For example, the St. Louis Cardinals outlawed broadcasting during the 1934 season, and attendance levels decreased to 283,000 less than the 1931 championship season. The public clearly enjoyed the new radio broadcasting of games, and the media expressed their feelings. The Chicago Tribune released a fervent argu...

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...s what players would make the team, and they would receive prizes for the accuracy of their guesses. The excitement of the all-star game and the prize incentives were very appealing to people, even during the Great Depression. As a result, the all-star game, which is still played today, contributed greatly to saving baseball during the Great Depression.

Lastly, the incorporation of night baseball was used in an attempt to bring in more fans. Baseball had been played under artificial lighting since the 1880’s, but only during the Great Depression was night baseball very common. The night games were beneficial to baseball because spectators no longer had to skip work in order to attend a baseball game during the day. Also, the night games were new and exciting for fans, so spectators would go to night games simply because they seemed like an unique experience.