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Why did television broadcasts hurt minor league baseball attendance?

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Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, wearing a white uniform and helmet, watches his hit while holding a bat during a game at Dodger Stadium. — Baseball Freddie Freeman, shown here in a 2023 game, was named World Series MVP in 2024 after hitting four home runs and driving in 12 runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Television broadcasts contributed to a decline in minor league baseball attendance because major league games were increasingly broadcast and televised directly into minor league attendance areas. This increased exposure to major league play drew fans away from local minor league stadiums, leading to a significant erosion of attendance in the decades following 1949.12

By the early 1980s, this trend, combined with the major leagues annexing several choice minor league territories, resulted in a substantial reduction in the number of minor league teams. During this period, the primary purpose of the minor leagues shifted from providing local entertainment to serving as a development ground for major league talent, with clubs often requiring heavy financial subsidization from their major league parent organizations.12

This situation eventually improved in the 1990s as rising ticket prices for major league games made minor league baseball a more attractive, less expensive alternative for fans, and franchises began focusing on family-oriented promotional entertainment and stadium improvements to boost attendance.12