The presence of baseball can be called superior to football in a number of ways. From its history and other aspects seen in these 10 reasons, it is clear to see in what ways baseball is better than football.
10. Every Day of the Week
Unfortunately professional football is normally played on Sundays. With exception to Monday nights, and other mentions, football lovers simply don’t get to see their beloved sport on a normal basis throughout the week.
Baseball is quite the opposite. Games are played on every day of the week, including the weekends. We can even add day and night games to boot, which clearly puts football to shame with the possibilities of games.
9. Longer Schedule
More of a sport is a good thing, right? Keeping with this theme, football only features 18 weeks of regular season games. That translates to 16 games per team, for football enthusiasts.
Baseball is another matter of course. The MLB schedule runs from the beginning of April to the end of September, with a total of 162 games per team in the regular season. Football is one sport where you get to see comparatively little of your team, and baseball resides on the opposing end of the spectrum.
8. Farm Systems
Of the four major professional sports in the U.S., football is the only sport to not have farm teams. While the NFL may receive players from the Arena Football League or the Canadian Football League, there is no system in place for football franchises to develop talent on an appropriate team.
Baseball holds perhaps the most thorough farm system. While independently owned, players remain under the control of their respective major league team. This ensures that talent can be appropriately built at the right level, and ensures that teams are able to develop young talent. It certainly adds breadth to baseball, where teams can harness such talent, such as in the case of the Tampa Bay Rays.
7. Stats
Stat junkies simply rejoice in the dynamic options available in baseball. Football and other sports cannot compare to the splits, sabermetrics, and percentages that make up the most statistically-rich sport present.
Even if you don’t appreciate all the stats that are available in baseball, you must respect them. Aligned to the history of baseball, anyone can compare eras and all-time greats with any number of options. Football cannot compete in this area.
6. Commercials
This could easily be higher, depending on how the commercials and idle time ruins your football-watching experience. According to a recent study, a football game averages 11 minutes of action, with 56% more time spent showing replays.
This unfortunate presence takes away from the fluidity of the game, where many are subjected to a few minutes of commercials after every change of possession, which adds up with the other time-draining actions that take place in a game. Every half inning and a few relievers aren’t looking so bad now, right?
5. The Family Experience
Taking the family to a ballpark on a nice summer day is another wonderful thing about baseball. It’s too bad that the winter-filled gridiron battles aren’t exactly the right place for little ones, let alone the prices that are on average three times the cost of a baseball ticket.
A bonus to this is the presence of youth leagues around the country and beyond. Baseball is still one of the better sports for young ones to get involved in and enjoy.
4. All-Around Skills
Football is a sport for specialist. With the exception of the “old days” in football, most players play one position, with a well-defined set of skills.
Baseball is a quintessential team game, where the game can be in the hands of the ninth batter in the final inning. Baseball players are evaluated in terms of common tools, and baseball, along with other such as basketball, certainly oppose football in the need for athletes to have an all-around skill set.
3. Playoff Series
While the sport itself can hardly be to blame, the playoff situation is unfortunate in many ways. The sudden-death format allows for anything to happen, where the fate of a team rides on the balance of one game. Many would, and have, argued that this may not allow the best team to win. After all, it is only one game.
The playoffs in baseball again are much longer and interesting than football, arguably. The seven-game series allow teams to battle over several days, with pitching matchups and fatigue to become involved. It keeps the fans more involved in the games that baseball provides in the postseason, which is much more to say than the 11 minutes – or the single game – of a round in the NFL playoffs.
2. History
Ruth, Mays, Cobb, Aaron, Wagner, DiMaggio, Williams, and the list goes on an on. From the Shot Heard ‘Round the World to homerun records, Ripken’s streak, and the legacy of Jackie Robinson, the history of baseball trumps many sports in this regard, and certainly the NFL.
1. America’s Pastime
Baseball is America’s past time, which creates the final reason why baseball is better than football. This final point is much more in the spirit of baseball than it is something negative for football.
The historical basis of baseball has transformed the sport into something that is not able to be divided from the nation’s history. Long before the attention given to basketball, football, and other sports, baseball was there. The greats, the atmosphere across many of America’s stadiums, the history, and the sport as a whole, are inextricably part of America, to which no other sport can compete.
45 Comments
This is probably the worst list I have ever seen.
Almost half of your reasons are just saying they play more games so it is better.
Coming from a baseball fans, these are not the reasons why baseball is better than football
John, I appreciate your honesty, but this is no where near the worst list you have ever seen…after you have seen this list I wrote in this site’s infancy. I give you Top 10 Hats – https://www.toptenz.net/top-ten-hats.php – read if you dare.
hey I found this sport called ROUNDERS being america shall we change 1 or 2 of the rules and call if baseball
10- yeah, we know when teams are playing in the nfl. its a fixed schedule. plus, there is more anticipation
9- less is sometimes more. you dont need all these games. some teams are 20 games outside of a playoff spot. theres no point in having htat many games. plus, its more taxing to play football and games mean more.
8- well, if you make the nfl, you make the nfl. not some gay ass bullshit where you can be called up and brought down in the same season.
7- stats are for losers. plus, you have nfl stats. and who needs them really? you determine the game by PLAYING… not stats. who who even cares about sabermetrics?
6- i’ll give you that one, but thats about it.
5- all of them are drunk because thats the only way you can get through 4 hours of watching people miss a swing.
4- the only proffession where you are paid huge sums of money be 25% if i get 25% on my test, im bonafide retarded. end of story. and even if they do hit it. most are too slow to get to 1st base. and its the only sport where you can be 400 pounds and be successful. even nfl linemen cant have more than a certain % body fat.
3- you win, you win, you lose, you lose. you only get 1 shot. you cant come back. you cant reward losing in the nfl. plus, its to taxing to have a series. and its short, sweet and to the point. if i win, i beat you, you dont get another shot and deal with it.
2- good history, but its the only sport that i know of where a star is born every other day. the most random people come up as good and 2 weeks ago, no one has heard of the guy. the greats in most other sports are great and there are not too many exceptions.
1- the nfl is the most watched sport, the highest attendance rating, 1/10 of the number of games and generates more money than mlb. and to top it, in many polls, people love football more than baseball and prefer to watch it over baseball.
@ Bob : But remember this, 1). Even before the halfway point of a football season, you know what teams are going to make the playoffs but in baseball, for example, in 1964 in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies had an 8 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals with only 12 games left and the Phillies blew and the Cardinals went to the World Series and defeated the Yankees 4 games to 3. 2). Baseball has no time limit which adds to the drama aspect of the game. 3). Baseball is the only team sport in North America where the defense has the ball and 4). Yogi Berra said it best of all about baseball. “It ain’t over til its over”.
1) not usually. the giants came out of nowhere last year. 1 game literally makes a difference between making the playoffs or not. ask the cowboys. also, talk about halfway point. some teams are 25-30 games out of playoff contention with 40 games left. literally 1 nfl game either makes you a dangerous team or you are a team that looks like youre in trouble
2) i like timeless games too, but in a game where 50%+ of the game has no action, i cant watch
3) thats an interesting fact, but thats a stupid point because it doesnt affect the game really. its more of a fun fact
4) so? a cool quote is a cool quote, but that applies almost… wait, yeah, 100% of everything that exists.
4 hours of people missing a swing. Trying to hit a 90+ mph fastball isn’t exactly tee-ball.
i dont doubt its hard (i think hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports), i respect baseball players to an extent (i lose credit for them because they hurt themselves in the most retarded ways and have the silliest injuries… im sorry. toweling yourself too hard? a 7 year old girl wouldnt admit that), but in every other sport, everyone is involved. you can stay in left field and pick your nose for all 9 innings and a ball wont even go in your area code. and its more about luck than skill. you have a pretty small strike zone. and while the pitches make it tricky to decipher if its going to break or not, there is no actual pattern to figure out where the ball is going. its more of a blind approach than actually being able to hit the ball on purpose (i mean aiming for and predicting where its going to go).
not to mention, they have the worst officiating in sports. while i think being an umpire and working in the field is the hardest job in sports, there are so many blown calls with the stingiest people that you have to think the league is retarded (the people who run it). soccer has bad officiating and isnt nearly as tough, but flopping isnt a ridiculously huge problem, goals and offside misjudgment arent too common.
I give you #4. The rest of these I don’t care about.
Longer schedule = each individual game becomes more meaningless, and it increases he probability that towards the end of the season, a lot of teams won’t care if they win or lose because they either will make the playoffs no matter what or won’t make them no matter what.
Commercials and action, oh come on, you’re telling me there isn’t a lot of commercials in baseball? Or that its action filled. For the most part, you just see a bunch of guys standing around doing hand signals.
History, yeah, you mean like the wonderful history of throwing games in the 1930’s.
The games don’t become meaningless. Last year the Cardinals were 9.5 games back from a playoff spot, but they came back to not only make the playoffs, but win the World Series. Also, the commercials in baseball are practically nonexistent compared to football. Before the Super Bowl, companies make commercials advertising their commercials! During a World Series game, there are a couple of commercials, but nothing much.
I think there are so many baseball fans that think they can lace up the cleats and get on the field. Baseball is appealing to many because they see the extremely average physiques of many players and relate to them. OMG have you seen bartolo colon or cecil fielders kid. Holy crap..The reason the players get paid so much is because they have no salary cap. Half the reason there is always holdouts and lockouts in football is because of the tighter salary cap. This makes it very hard for owners to pay more but it also makes it impossible for stacked teams. Also, when it comes to quality players, the better the baseball players are the more boring the game becomes. The better the football players are the more exciting the game becomes. A no hitter is the most touted accomplishment for a pitcher but for fans it is very boring until the last out when everyone goes nuts. In football there are so many different types of positions and athletes that no one players has a full advantage over another. All linebackers can crush recievers but cant always catch them.
#1 is an opinion. Also, if you have 100+ games a year, a win is less valubal and a loss is more devistating, giving football more emotion. Next, sudden death playoffs and OT beat seven game series and long lasting extra innings becaus it’s sudden making you jump out f you seat in a split second. Also, if a football game requires one hour of play, and in comlete pass, time outs, peneltys, scores, and any thing going out of bounds, each game is at least 45 minutes. Next, football requires one to give sweat and tears like in baseball, but blood. Finaly, and most importantly, baseball is just flat out dull.
This is such a biased list. For #6, are you saying that baseball has a higher percentage of action?(if u can call it that) because that’s rediculous. #4, how is baseball the greatest team game? While on offense only 1 guy plays at a time. In football, every single play needs every player on the field. #1, Americas passtime doest mean america’s sport. That belongs to football.
Most of the reasons you’ve listed are actually why I think football is better than baseball. So many games and a loooooong season? It’s dilluted. The NFL got it right, from marketing, to the playoff system, to the super bowl.
You will love our list being published on Feb. 3. Why football is better than baseball. Check back then.
Pretty good list of arguments. Stats, farm systems, family experience and history being the 4 things that I agree with the most that make baseball better than football.
Why baseball isn’t more popular than football is mostly because you have to be patient and somewhat intelligent to enjoy baseball to the fullest and the majority of Americans are not patient and are bordering on or are stupid.
People can and do get really into football, without getting into or anywhere near into the intelligent aspects of the game. While football is more fast paced than baseball is by no means fast paced compared to hockey and basketball, so people aren’t loving it for that reason..they are loving it because of the contact and big hits and the marketing……less intelligent people will get sucked in more easily by marketing plans.
and whats wrong with the phisicality of football?
This a biased list. Baseball WAS America’s past time, maybe 40+ years ago. Football is far more thrilling than baseball. Football requires actual athletes in peak physical condition who are significantly superior at their position, this does not hold true for baseball. The only true “skilled” player in baseball is the pitcher and catcher. I bet the author of this article is over 40, the older generations are the only ones who still think baseball is entertaining and better than football.
Extremely biased list. Baeball requires NO endurance most of the players are fat. And by fat I mean OUT OF SHAPE! Football players are big but at least the can move and run. And I bet nearly all of the great hitters used roids. And what about College Football and High school? NO ONE cares about college baseball or high school.
Baseball is wayy more boring than Football. And in those 11 minutes of action, MORE Happens than an ENTIRE series of baseball. Baseball is ONLY and I mean ONLY a tradition. Thats why they get paid so much and its still around.
Most exciting sportsIMO:
MMA
American Football
Basketball
Hockey
Soccer/Football
Boxing
Rugby Union/league
Austrialian Rules Football
#1: It’s pastime, not past time. Other than that, great list. A thought: I would bet that cat lovers prefer baseball while dog lovers prefer football.
And yet all these facts are outdone by #11: It’s incredibly boring to watch. Then again, that goes for football too. As for the ‘family experience’ thing, it doesn’t get any better than soccer.
Foohy, you mean like this little family experience?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjGvgeGSVWk
Sorry, I will stick to America’s past time, Baseball
Yes, because that just happens at every game, right? Grow up.
Go to Europe and watch a world cup game with your windows open. Every time something happens you hear cheers and fireworks (or boos) from all over town. Go to the center of town and half of the residents will be talking and cheering and watching the game together on a massive, temporary screen. Everybody’s got flags and decals on their cars, face paintings, etc. Everyone comes together to celebrate this one thing that they all love. It’s like a baseball game times 1,000.
Though if you live in the US, I suppose you’ll have to settle for baseball. Dull, boring, steroid-fueled baseball.
Not sayin it happens at every game but if you google “deadly soccer riot” there are 2,850 results.
If you google “deadly baseball riot” threre are no results. Which sport would seem more family friendly to you ?
Foohy makes an good statement and you counter it with something irrelevant… Also Im a soccerfan so I cant say much about these sports.
ya well if ur comparing soccer to baseball all i have to say is we make way more annually 🙂 thanks
The word “flied”, can only be used in baseball, as in “he flied out to center”.
Does football have it’s own word? I think not.
This list is unique, but very arguemenative. Longer schedule equals less importance of games until Septemeber rolls around. America’s past time is a long forgotton term for baseball, and truthfully belongs to football now. Better all around skills is hard to justify, the best players in both sports are incredible athletes. This list is biased a little too much, more detail is really needed to make this list more creidible.
They are two very different sports. I enjoyed the list, but some entries could have been expanded on to make baseball sound more superior. For example, the persona of the NFL vs. MLB. You could have mentioned The Cowboys and how painful it is to wartch them play a football game. People who enjoy watching playoff baseball more than football are the ones who have played baseball competitively and understand the feel that surrounds the game. On TV, I prefer playoff baseball over any other sport, except maybe the Superbowl. Nice job.
Baseball is the most boring professional sport there is. Nothing is more boring than watching a baseball game. I’d rather shoot myself.
Well, it is a thinking mans’ game.
Not so much a thinking man’s game as a sleeping man’s game. Holy buddha, this game is more boring than golf. And that is difficult to achieve, my friend…
There are a lot of “thinking man” games, but baseball, not so much…no more so than football…
where one has to REACT to the performance of a player, or players, when devising strategy. Which is a misnomer, strategy IS a long-term plan, tactics is short-term. So it all boils down to tactics…but in baseball, you can nap between ideas.
fix my own faux pas:
I meant that BOTH sports depend on REACTION to the performance of players to devise and/or revise tactics…
thus neither is a thinking man’s game, both are a reacting man’s game.
Ya gotta’ know the rules, but your planning is still shut down by a strike-out, or a blitz…and you have to immediately RETHINK your tactics…
again, sorry
yup ur right. if you think baseball is boring, go try and play it and be a pro, then tell me its boring, whats gunna be boring is when u fail and get taken out of games early. also, something else, is that you obviously know NOTHING about how baseball games are pitched, its as complicated as any other thing in the world.
Tell me something, is there such thing as football theory that you can learn??? i didnt think so, thats the coachs job because most of the players, maybe less the qb, but most of the football payers on the field are DUMMIES. and honestly? look at the friggin offensive linemen… they arent athletes, they are sumo wrestlers. thats abuse. making them so biiig like that? come on, look at their bellies next time u see one and tell me thats not unhealthy……. when you step out on a HUGE baseball field, its not all set up on paper like football, you have to have a sense of where to be when the ball is hit so you can make a play, and EVERRY defensive player has to be able to throw a ball unlike football where most of them cant even throw…. come on man you should know better. here how about this. :
IF BASEBALL IS NOT A THINKING MANS GAME, TRY AND WATCH A BASEBALL GAME, AND TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT PITCH THEY WILL THROW AND WHERE ITS GOING TO BE.
BAMM> if you can do that then come back here. and tell us.
because if you could, you would know that baseball is a not only a thinking mans game, but its an all around skills based game. honestly, if you can hit a ball going 96 miles per hour or more, further than 400 feet with a long wood bat that weighs over 2 pounds, tell me you dont need, skill,practice, and a friggin MIND to THINK with to know where the the ball is gunna be , and on top of that how fast and what pitch its gunna be. and then talk about how to field and throw a ball from 300 feet to home plate, and steal bases and EVERYTHING in baseball, and then tell me its not a thinking mans game…. K THANKS.
There both complexed sports and football players arnt dumb amd those big offensive linemen are the smartest people on the team they need to know what everyone on the line is going to do and where the qb is going to be and do. try being a qb or running back amd tell your linemen they arnt athletic. And imo every sport you need a unique set of skills imo watching base ball is boring but it is really fun to play! I know youre defending your sport and making a point thats ok but dont talk crap about another sport and no I probably can’t hit those curve balls or throw well. But you try to pick ip the blitzing linebacker comming out of no where basically changing the lines play make no blocks you still probally never pay a game or get fired. Sorry fout bad grammar or misspelling small phone lol. Props on youre love of the sport
“Baseball is the most boring professional sport there is.”
Apparently you’ve never watched a NASCAR race or a round of golf.
You forgot the main reason why Baseball is the greatest sport. No clock.
True, not to many 9 hours games in football. Read this list of the longest sporting events, https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-longest-sporting-events.php, featuring Rochester Red Wings vs. Pawtucket Red Sox which lasted nearly 9 hours and took 33 innings.
Yogi Berra said it best about the great game of baseball “It ain’t over til’ its over” And the 3 greatest inventions that America ever created are : The Constitution, Jazz Music, and the great game of baseball………
And Baseball is the only team sport in which the Defense has the ball !!!
I’m sorry, I do not agree with this list at all. I do watch baseball(I like the Orioles), but I love football. The NFL makes more money than MLB overall. And if you look at the TV ratings, of the top ten most watched shows in TV history, at least half are Superbowls, I don’t see any World Series in there anywhere. Heck, the Superbowl itself has become America’s unofficial holiday. This whole list sounds alot like viewer/fan envy. Sorry Baseball, you come close, but you just don’t quite stack up to Football.
I’m an O’s fan too, so I feel your pain. Of course this list is going to be loved by baseball enthusiasts and disliked by football enthusiasts. We plan to give equal time to why football is better than baseball. Probably wait until the Superbowl for that one.
well sorry to break it to you, but NO, football does not make more money. think about it. how can 1 baseball player be making 27 million dollars a year? im pretty sure the mlb has to have much more money and thats about double what ive heard the most an nfl player has made. the average salary in the mlb is about 3 million dollars, while in the NFL its about 1.2 million. sorry, but if you didnt notice, the mlb needs to make more money than the nfl in order for this to happen. and also, there are at least 10 games going on EVERY DAY in baseball. in football the most is probably around 6 or 7 and thats only once a week per team so if u got injured the day before, too bad. or if you had a family emergency and the playoffs or the superbowl was the next day, too bad. … overall the mlb has much more advantages. imagine. sorry but its honestly the truth in any aspect. baseball has everything, and thats why it is the highest paying salary out of any major sport….(not including golf because golf is not a sport its an activity, and most of them are rich to begin with.
and also something else, why the hell are QB’s so fragile… one tackle and they have a friggin concussion or a broken ankle…. wtf….
Yogi Berra said it best about Baseball. “It ain’t over ’til its over”. How true with Baseball but never in Football
I don’t watch either because hockey >. But this is a pretty biased top 10.