Why does growth in another sport matter? I think all sports viewership is down.
It would appear so. This from the same article saying the average age of the MLB fan is 57:
"In one way, baseball’s in great company. Of the 24 professional sports that the SBJ and Magna looked at, all but women’s tennis has seen the average age of viewers increase. On the other hand, the only sports with an average age higher than baseball’s are Nascar (58), men’s tennis (61), horse racing (63), figure skating (63) and any form of golf (63 to 64). They’re also the only sports drawing fewer young people, with the under-18 crowd ranging from 6% for women’s tennis and figure skating to a dismal 3% for golf.
Don’t laugh, football fans, because it isn’t as if your sport is looking much better. While the average NFL viewer is 50, only 9% of the NFL’s audience is kids under 18. Blame devices and attention spans all you’d like, but NFL viewership dropped by 8% on average last year, with Sunday and Monday night games down 10% to 12%."
