Report: MLB Broadcasts Looking Like Old Timer's Day

Major League Baseball is having a tough time attracting younger viewers to its broadcasts, according to a recent study from the Sports Business Journal and marketing consultant Magna Global. The average age of MLB viewers is 57, up from 53 a decade ago. Ominously, children under 18 make up a smaller portion of the overall audience than they did back then.

A recent article in Barron's reports,  baseball isn’t the only sport with age issues. When it comes to most sports, the median age of viewers is climbing significantly faster than that of the overall U.S. population, the study noted. Golf and men’s tennis have the oldest TV audiences, at 64 and 61, respectively. Men’s pro basketball is still relatively youthful, with an average age of 42, while pro football is at 50.

Interestingly, though men’s tennis is aging quickly, women’s tennis was the only professional sport whose viewership got younger, perhaps due to increased social-media usage by players on the tour.

So why are internet giants like Amazon.com, Facebook , and Twitter willing to pay ballooning sums for pro sports content? The companies are betting that younger viewers are still interested in sports, but not in watching full games in front of the TV.