Cricket World Cup vs. World Baseball Classic

**BCWWF** · 03-08-2009, 06:38 PM

The problem is that your post is based more on your view and understanding of baseball and the lack of the sport in Ireland as opposed to actual facts. It's clear that baseball is growing, especially on the international level. International baseball competition is in its infancy, but Major League Baseball and it's minor leagues have a giant foreign percentage. The reason the World Baseball Classic (only the second tournament ever) is significant is because the United States is arguably not even the best team. The Dominican Republic and Japan are probably the favorites.

Your opinion also implies that the sport being big in the United States is relatively insignificant. It's simply not true. Look at what has happened in China since Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets. The New York Yankees are also already on the same scale globally as Manchester United and Real Madrid. And the United States is the center of the entertainment industry, which includes highly efficient and profitable sports leagues. What happens in the United States is paid attention to much more closely than things that happen in the major Commonwealth countries such as India and Bangladesh.

It's also a bit misleading to simply say the Commonwealth includes a significant fraction of the world's population, because more than half of that is India. India has never been where the world looks for sports. In reality, India is almost isolated from the rest of the world of sports. Their delegation at the last Olympics was almost nothing, especially when compared to similarly sized countries like China and USA. The new Premier League in India might be big in India like MLB is big in the USA, but India is not as influential or as attractive as the US. How many people dream of living in New Delhi or Mumbai as compared to New York or Los Angeles?

Baseball is also much easier to understand and much more television friendly sport than cricket, which to me is the most significant detail. It is basically cricket but with more standard regulations. For that reason alone, I don't think cricket has the potential to grow into new countries whereas baseball does.

Again, I am not implying that I think cricket will die, but I don't think there will be much growth in any of the countries that currently don't follow the sport. I just don't think people really look toward India or Bangladesh for their sports in the same way they look to western Europe (EPL, Champions League) and USA (MLB, NFL, NBA). I don't know why anybody would be inclined to learn how cricket works unless it was already grandfathered into their culture.

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03-08-2009, 06:38 PM	#11
BCWWF The People's Member Posts: 18,092	The problem is that your post is based more on your view and understanding of baseball and the lack of the sport in Ireland as opposed to actual facts. It's clear that baseball is growing, especially on the international level. International baseball competition is in its infancy, but Major League Baseball and it's minor leagues have a giant foreign percentage. The reason the World Baseball Classic (only the second tournament ever) is significant is because the United States is arguably not even the best team. The Dominican Republic and Japan are probably the favorites. Your opinion also implies that the sport being big in the United States is relatively insignificant. It's simply not true. Look at what has happened in China since Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets. The New York Yankees are also already on the same scale globally as Manchester United and Real Madrid. And the United States is the center of the entertainment industry, which includes highly efficient and profitable sports leagues. What happens in the United States is paid attention to much more closely than things that happen in the major Commonwealth countries such as India and Bangladesh. It's also a bit misleading to simply say the Commonwealth includes a significant fraction of the world's population, because more than half of that is India. India has never been where the world looks for sports. In reality, India is almost isolated from the rest of the world of sports. Their delegation at the last Olympics was almost nothing, especially when compared to similarly sized countries like China and USA. The new Premier League in India might be big in India like MLB is big in the USA, but India is not as influential or as attractive as the US. How many people dream of living in New Delhi or Mumbai as compared to New York or Los Angeles? Baseball is also much easier to understand and much more television friendly sport than cricket, which to me is the most significant detail. It is basically cricket but with more standard regulations. For that reason alone, I don't think cricket has the potential to grow into new countries whereas baseball does. Again, I am not implying that I think cricket will die, but I don't think there will be much growth in any of the countries that currently don't follow the sport. I just don't think people really look toward India or Bangladesh for their sports in the same way they look to western Europe (EPL, Champions League) and USA (MLB, NFL, NBA). I don't know why anybody would be inclined to learn how cricket works unless it was already grandfathered into their culture.