Interesting graph. By no means am I attempting to be biased towards a certain league, but how is it possible that the MLB and Minor League Baseball sell more tickets annually? After some time of thinking about this, I realized that it came down to how many games are in their seasons. Since Baseball seasons are MUCH longer, how accurate is this graph, really? If the NFL or NBA season was also 160+ games, I'd expect them to have much higher annual ticket sales. Especially the NFL, due to their stadiums being much larger and selling many more tickets on average per game. My point is this - this graph makes it seem as though professional baseball, even the minor leagues, is 2-3 times more popular than other major sports. At least that is what I first thought when I saw this. But, the facts are the facts, so it makes sense that ticket sales are increased when the amount of games in a season for that league is also increased.
I notice the NFL is most consistent in ticket sales.
I wonder how the graph would change if it was tickets sold per 82 games.
"How popular is baseball really?"
I noticed that football was the most consistent in ticket sales. I wonder why baseball was so inconsistent. I think the graph shows that the ticket sales each year depends on if there are standout popular players and teams.
What do you notice? If you make a claim, tell us what you noticed that supports your claim.
-MLB sells significantly more tickets followed by the MiLB, the NBA, and then the NFL.
What do you wonder? What are you curious about that comes from what you notice in the graph?
-I wonder if this is because there are more baseball games than basketball and football. I would like to take a look at the number of games in each league.
What’s going on in this graph? Write a catchy headline that captures the graph’s main idea.
-The graph is showing the sales of tickets in each league. The headline would be “MLB significantly oversells other leagues”
When I started looking at this graph I was surprised because almost nobody I know likes baseball and nobody i've heard talks about their favorite baseball team. Most people like football or other sports. I’ve always thought that playing sports is more fun than watching but sometimes it's fun to watch a sport with my dad or play a sports video game like mario super sluggers (it's just mario baseball) but just screaming about something stupid like donkey kong getting a home run and then rubbing it in my brothers face that i am so much better than him at the video game. To go back on track about how baseball has a surprising amount of ticket sales, I think it's because people take their families to baseball and then it's only really dads that go to football games when you really think about it.
I saw that baseball fans like to watch those matches live. That sport has the largest ticket sales as a result. I wonder whether baseball would still be in the lead if the season weren't so long.
@Devvon I had no idea that the baseball season was longer than the rest that would make since that it has more ticket sales. But its kind of unfair to compare something that goes for a shorter time to something that goes for a long time.
I noticed that MLB is trending down from 2007-2017 while minor league baseball is trending up. I wonder if the price per ticket is helping offset lower attendance numbers over the years. New headline, "Put me in coach, and pay be too!"
@Kevin Morgan I also think that the ticket prices per ticket was a factor in the sales. I agree that this is helping offset the lower attendance numbers.
We noticed that Major league baseball started off with low ticket sales then slowly went up then went back down then through out the years the sales slowly went up. But for the other 3 there average wasn't as high but they slowly went up as well so we think that the MLB is the most watched sport in public
@Kaiden P
Hey Kaiden, in your comment you said how you think the MLB is the most watched sport in public. It would appear this way from the graph, but what is not shown is how the MLB plays double the games the NBA does and 10x the amount of games that the NFL does. So, in actuality the ratio of tickets per game is around the same for all 3.
Baseball’s ticket sales are misleading due to the number of games they have
I am suprised how popular baseball is in comparison to the other sports listed.
@Lily Hey Lily, when first looking at the graph people would assume that baseball is just more popular than the other sports that are in the graph. Though they never take into account that there are many more baseball games in a season than there are in basketball or football seasons. So even though it looks like baseball is more popular than the other sports it is not an accurate graph because it does not take the length of seasons into account.
The title is how popular is baseball. This graph does not compare each sports popularity it compares ticket sales. Major League Baseball has more ticket sales than the National Football League because in baseball they play 162 games when in NFL only 16.
Headline: Play Ball!
The first thing I notice about this graph is the low amount of NFL ticket sales compared to the other sports. I would’ve thought that the NFL and MLB would be very close to each other, because of the way they are associated with American culture, but I was wrong. NFL is at the bottom with less than 25 Million ticket sales, while MLB is at the very top, sometimes selling more than 75 million tickets. This graph shows the popularity of certain sports to Americans. One thing I wonder is if ticket pricing has any influence on sales. Maybe because of how popular football is, the NFL ticket prices are higher than MLB ticket prices.
1
Before I look at this graph I just want to say basketball right off the top. But then when I think for second, a football stadium is bigger than an auditorium so more people could fit into the football games, and who watches baseball...sorry not sorry, but as far as tickets bought im going to guess its basketball.
I do notice the numbers throughout the years starting at 2002 is shocking. Because let's be honest wasn't nobody worried about basketball or football in the 90s, when the 2000s came that's when it started popping. But it seems as though baseball comes out on top. I remember hats all my granddad would watch nothing else, and Iuse to say who just sits and watch baseball for entertainment, apparently a lot according to this graph, they don't even just watch they get up and attend the games.
This graph is not complicated, MLB and minor league baseball ticket sales are the highest out of all sports it’s not really a close comparison at all. There isn’t anything else the graph shows.
people seem to be interested in in major league baseball games so it sold more tickets also 2007 it was the highest sales.people lease goes to the national football league games has the less ticket sale for the most years.The lowest ticket cost of ticket gathered information is Assn.
#0045718
1. The graph is showing the annual tickets sales by league of each games baseball, basketball and football and how the sales increase in the past of the years.
2. Why baseball sales more then football ?
3.
@Kayo Nice job analyzing the data. I'm guessing that baseball sells more tickets because they play games almost every night during their season, whereas football teams only play once a week.
1.this graph is showing the mlb tickets are selling more than the rest of the sports on the graph
2. where did the information come from.
3.THIS GRAPH IS CAP
@LUIS LIMA I'm not quite sure why you think the graph is not accurate... It looks like they got the data from ESPN and MiLB! See my comment to Kayo for my suggestion about why.
@LUIS LIMA Hey Luis Lima, I believe that this data would have come from each of the respective leagues. This graph is likely telling the truth but it can be misleading at first glance if you do not consider the fact that baseball season have significantly more games in their season.
1. Watching them on tv, people buying the teams merch, Social media. I would like to see how many people are watching their games.
2. Because more games are played and baseballs been around longer.
3. In the United States both games aren't as popular.
4. I don't like sports
1 thing I noticed is that the NFL was the lowest ticket count which was very shocking to me because football is a big part of America.
2 tickets started to drop in 1980ś
3 baseball is americans past time it makes sense1 thing
@Forest I was also shocked to see the NFL ticket sales at the bottom. I always thought football was the most popular American sport.
@Forest Baseball teams play practically every night during their season, but football teams only play once a week, therefore I assume that this contributes to the higher ticket sales.
I noticed the baseball one seems to be higher. I wonder why the baseball one is the highest. The graph represents the amount of money made from ticket sales from 1992 - 2018 for Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, National Basketball Assn., and for the National Football League.
@Kaitlyn I also wondered why baseball is the highest. I genuinely thought that football by far would be the most popular and make the most money. Football has the Superbowl, and basketball has March Madness, they both have the cheerleaders, the halftime shows. What does baseball have that makes the ticket sales so much higher?
@Kaitlyn Baseball tickets sales are always going to be much higher because of the amount of games they play being significantly higher than other sports.
I noticed that the baseball watcher enjoy seeing those games live. Which is why that sport has the most ticket sells. I wonder if the baseball season wasn't so long if baseball would still be on top.
Something I noticed is that baseball is very popular and so many people go. I wonder if its because the length of the game people go out enjoy a nice long game. And they eat and drink with their friends.
I noticed that football ticket sales are a lot lower than the rest of the other sports. I wonder if the reason football ticket sales are low is because of the cost of the tickets.
I think that baseball has more ticket sales because football is kind of boring to watch. Having been to a few football games myself, I found that I'd rather watch a golf match live than be at a football game.
@Max F that's not fully correct it could also be because of the year the data is recorded.
I feel like BaseBall is had more ticket sales because of the length of the season and the more important games so when a "boring" game is going to be played less people pay tickets for those games. I wonder why is basketball and football are so low for tickets sold. Is it the size of the stadium a factor into the low ticket sells? I noticed that basketball is so high in ticket sells, is this because of the bigger stadiums?
I've noticed that the NFL was the lowest on ticket sales, which I'm very surprised by. I wonder if it's because people mostly like watching football at home with their family and friends. People usually like to go to the NBL and prefer to watch it firsthand at the game.
I notice that the levels of tickets in MLB vs NFL are very different. I wonder why football tickets are so low compared to the major league.
WHAT DO I_________ABOUT THIS GRAPH.
NOTICE: Baseball sells 75 million tickets which is a lot more than I thought. I assumed it would be closer to basketball but ended up "knocking out of the park."
WONDER: Does baseball having a longer season affect ticket sales. It probably gives people more opportunities to come out and watch games.
I noticed that National basketball has dropped in 1997 and later increased and dropped again in 2012. I wonder why it dropped. Was it because of the season or another cause? I would name this "Tickets over the years"
Even though baseball has the most sold with 50-75+million tickets, it is still the least consistent and football has the least sells but is very consistent for such a long time, I wonder why?
@willow Is it because of the season or how much the ticket costs now vs back then. I thought football and soccer would be on here since it's known widely.
@willow Maybe because football hasn't got more fans but the fans of football are loyal enough to keep paying for the football tickets.
@willow usually basketball fans like watching the game close up giving it more of the real experience.
I looked at the data for "Annual Ticket Sales by League", which seems to show the number of tickets that baseball, basketball and football leagues sell. Looking at this data makes me wonder what caused the major increase and decrease within ticket sales through each year.
Looking through this data I noticed how baseball has higher annual ticket sales than all the other sports which lead me to believe that major league baseball is currently the most popular sport. This also made me wonder how and why baseball is the more popular sport above basketball and football and what caused ticket sales for each sport to increase or decrease each year.
This is also why I’ve made the headline “Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Which Ball Reigns Supreme and Why?”
I noticed that in the graph the number of tickets sold in Major League Baseball and the Minor League Baseball are relatively close to each other. The number of tickets sold in the National Football League and the National Basketball Association are relatively close to each other as well.
@Iz M. How does minor league baseball sell more tickets than NBA and NFL and even the NHL?
The Funky Cats of Sport and How They Burn Their Money
Notice: Major League Baseball has more ticket sales that the other sports.
NFL has the least sales of tickets
Minor League Baseball is slowly increasing in sales.
Wonder: Why less tickets for football? Are ticket sales are due to number of games per season? Why is basketball tickets higher than football? Why such huge drop in Baseball during 1993-1996? Why is there drops in Basketball in 1997 and 2012? Why are there no women sports? Why are there no soccer?
I'm also curious as to whether or not the ticket sales are due to the number of games each season and if it could explain the consistency within the football data. Also, the variety of sports placed into the data could depend on how popular the sport is and thus how likely they are to compete in popularity with each other. That might be why some other sports like soccer and tennis aren't included in the data.
Football and minor league baseball are the most Consistent with both of them not having a major decrease and by the end they end up having more tickets sold in 2017 than 1992. I also notice that the NHL isn't up there
HI, @RedXGacha --
I noticed that hockey and soccer are not on the graph. Maybe you could search online for NHL ticket sales and compare them to the other leagues.
something I noticed is that football sales are the lowest but very consistent, because it didn't drop or raise by much in sales
I noticed that football and basketball are the only consistent sports than major and minor league baseball. That makes me wonder why aren't the major and minor leagues consistent like the rest of the sports. I also notice that the NHL is not up here
I wonder why (NFL) National Football League and (NBA) National Basketball league are the lowest because those seem like the most interesting. I also wonder why both baseball leagues are at the top.
Title: Top Sports Annual Tickets
I was wondering if the numbers meant the how many tickets were sold, or the revenue brought in. The graph isn't very clear about that, and I think it would be interesting to see the comparison!
I was also surprised to see such a dip in major league baseball in the 1990s. I wonder what happened!
What I noticed -
I noticed that major league baseball has a significant higher margin than football and basket ball ticket sales. I also noticed how there was a large drop in about 1995 for the major league baseball. I noticed how there were two major drops in the basketball sales. I also noticed how the football sales stayed pretty consistent except it has had a steady incline in sales.
This graph shows the annual ticket sales for four of the major sports leagues in America. The graph shows that although the ticket sales for Major League Baseball have been up and down since 1992, it always leads the ticket sales by over 15 million tickets. I wonder why both baseball leagues have led the ticket sales for so long.
I noticed that Major League Baseball sold the most tickets of any sport, and that football sold the least. I also noticed that the number of tickets for football didn’t drop or rise very drastically, while Major League Baseball dripped around 1995 and then rose back up in 1997. I wonder what caused those drops and spikes. I also wonder if the reason baseball sold so many more tickets is because they play more games.
HI, @Maddy --
You wonder if "baseball sold so many more tickets is because they play more games."
What other variable would increase the number of tickets sold?
I noticed that major league baseball has more annual ticket sales than any of the other sports. Also, the National Basketball Association seems to severely drop every so often. The football statistics are very consistent. I wonder how many games each league played. I also wonder if this graph is by the number of tickets or the price? The name I would choose for this graph is National League vs. Minor.
This graph is showing ticket sales for baseball, basketball, and football. I noticed that for major league baseball the ticket sales would fluctuate based on the year. I also noticed that the NHL isn't on there.
I noticed that baseball had the most dramatic change but I wonder why it had a dip from 75millon to 50millon and why football and basketball was so low
@sofia That is a very good observation and I totally agree with you!
The graph shows from 1192 to 2017. National football and national basketball are low on ticket sales by league. National basketball dropped around 1997 and 2012. The national basketball league dropped below the football line in the early 1997.
Minor league baseball and major league baseball are very high. they both are above 50 on the Y axis. Minor league baseball went up and the late 2012 spiked up. The major league baseball dropped in the mid 1992 and staggered up and slowly down from the mid 1992 to early 2007. Baseball leagues are the most popular tickets sold compared to national basketball and national football leagues.
My question is why is there 75 and a million under but the rest don't have millions or show a sign of under million, are the 50 and 25 under million or are they millions too? Deeper into the graph I noticed that with the graph and how it's going with the sports how come the graph is focused on baseball, football, and basketball? Further more I wonder why baseball is popular than football and basketball? There is a relationship with the sports and the ticket sales because you can make a graph that looks decent and can be made into a problem.
Good morning, @Owl --
Thank you for all of your noticings and wonderings.
I wonder about the label on the y-axis. What would you recommend so the label is clearer? Unclear labels can lead to misunderstandings. For example, some students thought the y-axis was revenue from tickets sold.
This graph is showing ticket sales for baseball, basketball, and football. I noticed that for major league baseball the ticket sales would fluctuate based on the year. Baseball has the highest annual ticket sales. Minor league baseball seems to be the only one that did not have a major decrease in ticket sales. Basketball seemed to decrease the worst during the late 1990s and 2012, other than those times it only increased. Football has the least amount of annual ticket sales but maintained a pretty steady number. I wonder why major league baseball decreased so much during the mid-1990s. I also wonder why football has the lowest amount of ticket sales?
@Lauren T I was also wondering why there was no sharp dip in minor league baseball.
@Lauren T I was wondering the same thing about the ticket sales for football. I was thinking that maybe it was because there are more games for baseball compared to football.
@Lauren T
I also wondered why football has the lowest sales, while it often seems like it is the most popular. I wonder if it could be that baseball teams often play more games than football teams.
baseball sales are the lowest
@olivia I agree but I think that football is really the lowest
football has a steady rising rate
The national basketball and national football league are close to being the same except the little ditches from national basketball then it would be the same.
why did sales drop so much for major league around 1995
Why is major league baseball so random?
@Owen I'm not sure, but I'm also wondering about. its almost never at a consistent rate, it only has a steady rate between about 2009 and 2015
Why did they only graph it every five years.
why did the sales drop so much between 1992 an 97
Football, and Basketball are both somewhat constant, and major league baseball was the most inconstant.
Why did the minor league had such a steady increase?
Why has football had the most consistent steady ticket sales compared to other sports.
@lynn anne
I wonder that too. It's stayed so low for quite some time.
Despite the drops in ticket sales that major league baseball had it still had higher annual ticket sales then the annual ticket sales then the other sports had.
I wonder what caused ticket sales of Minor League Baseball to majorly increase around 2015.
I noticed that there was a major drop in ticket sales for the Major baseball League around 1995 and that the National Football League has the most stable ticket sales.
@Kaya Badger
I wonder the same thing. Maybe it was because it became more popular or tickets became cheaper? I also noticed the same thing about the National Football League having the most stable ticket sales. Good job!
Football and minor league baseball are the most Consistent with both of them not having a major decrease and by the end they end up having more tickets sold in 2017 than 1992.
Thanks to all students who responded. Love the catchy headlines that capture the main ideas of the map: “More Tickets, Less (Hearing) Crickets” by Erica and “Tickets Are Out of the Park by Aden and Nicholas, both from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” by Grace R. from AOSE and “Major League Baseball ticket sales come sliding in(to first)!” by Mary Eloise Barfield from Pensacola, Florida.
You can continue to post responses. Please check back tomorrow -- Thursday afternoon, October 31 to see the Reveal with a link to the original New York Times article, some questions about the graphs, and a Stat Nugget.
The next graph will be released tomorrow -- Thursday, October 31, with moderation on Wednesday, November 6. You may respond before, during, or after the live moderation by going to “What's Going On In This Graph?” The topic -- How many ride-hailing cars (taxis, Uber, Lyft, and other types) do we need?
You can see all of the graphs that we have released on our “What’s Going On In This Graph?” homepage. They are also listed in indices by context and by type of graph in the 2019-2020 introductory post “Looking for Graphs to Use in the Classroom? Here Are 34.” You can use past graphs and respond online.
Signing off – Sharon Hessney of Boston, who will be watching the final 2019 World Series game tonight, and Tara Truesdale of Columbia, South Carolina, who will be in front of the television, remembering the 2016 Cubs World Series – Go Cubs!
Basketball and football are more consistent than two drops in basketball.
why is it only showing the little league baseball and not little league basketball or football
Hi, @john --
Where do you see Little League in the graph?
I think all of the time series lines are for major league (professional) sports.
What caused the sudden dip in Major League Baseball ticket sales between 1992 to 1997?
Was there a loss of interest in Major League during that time?
If the National Basketball Association has near to, or just as many sales as the National Football League, why are there multiple dips in ticket sales during 1997 and 2012 (separately)?
Why is Basketball marginally better in games sales than Football, one of the most popular sports in the U.S. especially when regarding the Superbowl?
With Baseball, no matter the dips in ticket sales, they still oversell all other sports on this list. With all the baseball games, surely there is going to be more ticket sales. But I do wonder how many games each has, seeing how baseball is skyrocketing. The only time I see or hear about a game selling out is usually about the time of super bowls. With Baseball I see constant advertisement and sales.
Why has football had the most consistent steady ticket sales compared to other sports.
Between 1992 and 1997, major league baseball had a slump in sales.
@Anthanee Taylor but whos to say it was sales. it could be how much money they made or the number of tickets sold
Between 2012 and 2017 the ticket sales for minor league baseball was over 50 million.
Football has the straightest rate. Basketball did as well, but around 1997 and around 2012, there were small dips in sales. Major League Baseball has the most erratic rise/fall rate and Minor League Baseball has a slow but steady rise.
Thank you, @Riley Reynolds for sharing what you noticed. Were there any events in the NBA around 1997 and 2012 that may have affected the ticket sales as well as some of the “falls” you mentioned in the MLB? What do you wonder from looking at this graph? Do you have a catchy headline that make grab people’s attention?
baseball sells more tickets. because the tickets are more cheap than football. basketball is going down because basketball teams are being shut down. the only two common sports are football, and baseball.
depending on where u are you may perfer a certain sport over others. and baseball has more games in a season then basketball or football.
Why is major league baseball ticket sales all over the place?
baseball is a very boring sport to watch even if they do have more games i still don't understand why so many people go to the games
why did baseballs sell in tickets drop down to 50 million.
i notice that there is a dip in baseballs sales and it was the lowest out of all of the other sports
Baseball plays more games so they would have more tickets sold
I wonder why soccer isnt up their
why dose baseball sale the most tickets?
Baseball has a lot more games each season, so that is probably why they sell the most tickets. Fans have many more opportunities to buy tickets and go to games. Even though football is a good sport too, they don't play as many games.
2
Speaking of Major League Baseball, have any of you been watching the World Series? Have you looked into much information about Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals? He's not that much older than some of you. How does that affect the way you watch him play? Would you be more willing to buy tickets of people that you are close in age with? What does his youth bring to the game of baseball?
The graph displays that baseball, even at its lowest sales point, far surpassed the other sports in ticket sales. Baseball is considered to be the "most American" sport, so it would make sense as to why it has the highest ticket sales, even with the minor league producing more than football and basketball. However, it is interesting to see that even though baseball surpasses the other sports, it fluctuates annually while minor league baseball, basketball, and football have a slight and steady increase. The increase for basketball and football sales may be due to an increasing interest and popularity in these sports. The sharp declines can be due to overpriced tickets, so people held back with purchasing them in a certain year.
@Graceanna Title: "Top Sports = Top Sales"
In this graph baseball and minor league baseball is at the top because their tickets are the cheapest and they play the most games. The nba plays more games than the NFL which is why they are ahead of them but they aren't that ahead of them because basketball Arena's don't hold a lot of people and NFL stadiums can hold a good amount. NFL on tv is probably the most watched right now but that's only because they have less games so these games are more important. If any other of these sports only had 16 games they would most likely be just as popular. Thank you for your time
Good afternoon, Mrs. List’s Class. Thank you for joining our discussion. Do you believe that ticket sales are a good descriptor of popularity? You have some good ideas about the amount of games as well as the size of arenas. Return tomorrow for the link to the original story to see factors that the journalist found and other ways to describe popularity among sports.
I’m curious. Do you think football and basketball would sell as many (or more) tickets as baseball if they had as many games?
What do you think a catchy headline would be for this graph?
This graph depicts a visual representation of annual ticket sales for Major (MLB) and Minor League Baseball, National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the National Football League (NFL). The MLB has had the most fluctuation in sales since 1992, and the NFL has had the least change. Over time, the NFL has had steady and gradual growth, while the other three sports have had spikes in their sales. I wonder why MLB has had major changes while other sports had less change. A possible title could be “Sports Ticket Sales.”
@Devyn D Why do you think baseball fluctuated the most?
I noticed that baseball and minor league baseball has continually been at the top of tickets sales which could be the reason of more games being played. Football although being "America's favorite sport" has lacked in ticket sales to other major league sports. I think the reason for this is because teams in the NFL like The New York Jets are so bad that they don't sell any tickets which would equate to the loss in NFL ticket sales. My title would be "sell more tickets"
@Joseph Obrien I would like to say that I highly disagree, it seems like the league is out to get the Jets and I think they have been getting screwed over the past couple years. #PatriotsCheat
Good afternoon, @Joseph Obrien. Thank you for joining our discussion about this graph. I was shocked to see that you find football to be “America’s favorite sport.” Can you back that up with some data or sources? I’d love to see them as my class argues over this idea often. Check back tomorrow for the link to the original article and what the journalist found, including some other measures of popularity of sports.
Is the NFL the only league with a team that doesn’t win often? I have been a fan of many lovable losers who still sell many tickets even in long droughts without a winning season in sight. Also, when you watch football on television, are there many empty seats? Is it really possible for the NFL to sell many more tickets?
I’m also curious since you seem to be a football fan. Do you believe that if the NFL were to play more games (as you mentioned baseball does), would they enough people interested to buy tickets to many more games?
@Joseph Obrien i disagree because there is still a lot of people that like the jets and still go to all of the games that they can
The cost of baseball tickets is significantly lower than football and basketball so that’s why minor and Major League Baseball has higher ticket sales cause more people can attend and afford to pay.
Hi, @loren. If that is the case, then wouldn’t Minor League Baseball sell more tickets that Major League. Could there be other variables at play? What else to you notice about the graphs and the story it is telling. Check back tomorrow for the link to the original article. The journalist will share a few more thoughts and possibilities.
I don't understand why baseball is so popular. It requires no skill and shouldn't even been on TV. But I also wonder why basketball is so low considering they get paid so much more than other athletes.
I notice that Baseball outsells all in ticket sales. I wonder why ticket sales rise and fall at about the same rates across all sports. Annual Ticket Sales for baseball, basketball and the nfl
@Nerd why do you think that baseball is the most popular? What conclusions could you make as to why there are such dramatic differences between sales of sports?
@Nerd I noticed the same thing. Do you think that other sports ticket sales should be higher than baseball?
What about the Hockey ticket sales? What about professional spike ball or badmitton sales? Why can't those be factored in.
NFL would have higher ticket sales if the refs weren't incompetent and were not awful. They change the outcome of the games and it is the reason their ratings are down. #JetsSuperBowl2025
Can we please see the revenue generated from other professional sports like spikeball, table tennis, or cricket?
MLB umps are corrupt.
@Don Veitch Why's that Don?
The NFL ratings do not go up because the refs get worse by the year and are very incompetent. This is the reason the New York Jets have not won a super bowl in the past couple of years. #Jets2020
Notice:
1. All except football have some sort of spike up or down.
2. MLB is the highest always.
3. MLB sales went wayyyy down for a bit in 94-95ish.
4. MLB was at its highest in 2007.
Wonder:
1. Why has football stayed about the same.
2. Why does MLB vary so much?
3. Why did minor league baseball spike in 2015ish?
4. Why does it stop at 2017?
What story does this graph tell: Baseball is popular.
Hello, @Ms. Madison’s 3rd Period. Thank you for contributing to the discussion. Do you know of any events in the MLB that could have affected ticket sales during 1994-1995? You mentioned that “Baseball is popular.” Do you believe that ticket sales can describe popularity by themselves, or is there more to this story? You may want to return tomorrow to get the link to the article that included this graph. The journalist gives some other measures of sports popularity.
@Ms. Madison's 3rd Period
I agree with everything you noticed and wondered about. Do you think the downfall of ticket sales for MLB had to do with the time periods or teams?
This graph shows the amount of ticket sales for major league baseball, minor league baseball, basketball, and football. Major league baseball ticket sales are significantly higher than any other sport, including minor league baseball. These sales peaked at over 75 million dollars, whereas the sales for basketball and football never surpassed 25 million dollars. There are a few noticable dips in the ticket sales, especially for major league baseball and basketball. Major league baseball sales took a huge hit right after 1992, and basketball sales dropped after 1997 and in 2012. I wonder what caused those drops, and what casued minor league baseball sales to spike in around 2015. I also wonder why basketball and football sales are so much lower tan baseball, as they are both very popular sports. One possible title for this graph could be "Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Annual Ticket Sales by Sports League."
Hi, @Grace R. Thank you for your description of the what you notice and what you wonder in the graph. You have some great questions about the graph. I wonder if there were other events going on in the leagues or in our country that could have effected ticket sales? As for why basketball and football are so much lower than baseball, can you think of a difference about baseball games and basketball and football games that would cause such a difference other than popularity?
Good morning, Is anyone from Eden Prairie, Minnesota still online? Did you guys see @Erica’s headline, “More Tickets not Crickets.” This one sounds so catchy, but I feel like it may be missing something. Are you referring to not hearing the crickets because of so many people are at the games? Can anyone tweak her headline, maybe by adding a word to help clarify, especially for areas of the country who don’t use this phrase? Keep the conversation going. You guys are doing great at noticing and wondering.
I notice that the ticket sales for baseball are surprisingly sold at the highest among the four categories. I wonder that because baseball has the highest number of tickets sold is there a reason that football is more profitable.
Headline: Minor League baseball On the Rise?
HI, @Raquel Pasillas --
Why did I surprise you that “the ticket sales for baseball are surprisingly sold at the highest among the four categories?”
Will you be watching the World Series tonight? The Houston Astros could become the World Series champs. Or, the Washington Nationals could surprise us.
I noticed that the the National Football League has the most steady rate of annual ticket sales compared to the other leagues and the National Basketball Association had dips of decline in the graph. I wonder why there was a sudden drop of ticket sales in the Major League Baseball. My catchy headline is: "Sports Leagues Annual Ticket Sales" because every year, the sports leagues starts to have a decline in ticket sales.
@Tiffany Emborgo Good observations! Why do you think that the Football League has had the most steady rate of ticket sales?
@Tiffany Emborgo Good observations! Why do you think that the Football League has had the most steady rate of ticket sales?
@Tiffany Emborgo Good observations! Why do you think that the Football League has had the most steady rate of ticket sales?
Headline: Tickets & Sports
We noticed that ticket sales for football have been very steady the past 2 decades. In contrast, baseball ticket sales have more variation. We wonder why people prefer to go to baseball games over football and basketball games.
@Hannah & Haley What do you think about the increases ans drops in certain sales over time?
We noticed that football is steady, and basketball has some dips, and minor league baseball increases somewhat and major league baseball has many changes.
We wonder why foot ball is at the bottom because people really enjoy football and we feel it is a more common sport for people to watch and enjoy.
Headline: Ticket Sales for 3 major sports
Hi, @KILO. Thank you for your comments on what you have noticed and wondered. What do you think are some of the causes to minor league increasing or in major league changing? That’s an interesting opinion that football is very enjoyable and common. What could be some differences between baseball games (or leagues) and football games (or leagues) that could cause such a difference in the ticket sales? I would love to hear your thoughts.
We notice that baseball has the highest amount of ticket sales.
We wonder why football sales are the lowest of the 4 because we thought the sales would be higher.
Title: Take Me Out To The Ball Game
Good morning, @Team Sharon --
You “wonder why football sales are the lowest of the 4 because we thought the sales would be higher.” Let's break this wonder into two parts.
What variables go into the calculation of total number of tickets available to be sold?
And, what factors affect the number of available tickets that get sold?
The answers to these questions may shed light on why baseball tops basketball and football in this graph.
headline: MLB tickets through the ROOF
We notice that the MLB sales are substantially high compared to the rest of sports. In fact, the tickets have been more than 3x higher than football. We wonder a few things. First, we wonder why minor league games for baseball sell more than basketball and football annually. We also wonder the reason for the dips in basketball line.
Hi, @Team Fred & Charlie. Thank you for your comments. What about the nature of baseball games in a season versus basketball and football games do you think could cause so many more tickets to be sold to baseball games annually? You mentioned the dips in the basketball line. Were there any events that were going on in the league or in our country at the time that would have greatly affected ticket sales to NBA games?
Our snappy headline is "Tickets Sales in the MLB Soar to the Top." In the graph we noticed that the MLB ticket sales are nearly double compared to the ticket sales of Minor League Baseball. As you can see, the MLB ticket sales are around 75 million in 2005 and Minor League Baseball is around 35 million in 2005. We wonder why tickets to the NFL are the purchased lowest when it is debatably the most watched sport. In the graph we see that the sales do fluctuate but stay pretty steady as the years increase.
@Greta and Michael I like your observation that it is odd that the most-watched sport is also the most-attended one. Why do you think this is so?
@Greta and Michael Good point about football.. Maybe football is watched more at home while baseball is viewed live, thus giving them the largest amount of ticket sales.
We noticed that MLB has the highest amount of ticket sales, most likely due to the fact that it has been claimed as "America's pass time". We also noticed that the NFL has the lowest amount of ticket sales. We wondered why NFL is the lowest. We also wondered if MLB has more games is the reason why their ticket sales are so high. Catchy Title: Massive Major (League Baseball) Monopoly
@NR EPHS interesting observations. Why do you think that ticket sales for baseball have fluctuated so much?
Our snappy headline is "Super Sport Sales Steadily Spread" our wonder is that why is the NFL so low, and we found it interesting that minor's leagues are higher ticket sales that the NFL but then we realized that baseball plays way more games than football.
@Team Alex I also found it interesting that minor league baseball made more money on sales than basketball and football.
@Team Alex We agree with your question and we wonder why the NFL sales are so low as well.
As the title of the graph says, I notice that this graph displays the distribution of annual ticket sales by league involving baseball, basketball, and football from the year 1992-2017, as displayed on the x-axis of the graph. The y-axis demonstrates the number of tickets sold in millions, with the highest amount sold in major league baseball. The overall trend of the graph is that more spectators have paid tickets to attend major league baseball games as opposed to minor league. Baseball is also the more popular sport to be seen live as demonstrated by it having the highest ticket sales. I also notice sharp declines in ticket sales involving major league baseball from around slightly after 1992 to 1996, as well as in national basketball games in around 1999 and 2012. Ticket sales reached their peak in 2007 for major league baseball and around 2015 for basketball. I wonder what may have caused these sharp peaks and troughs and why major league baseball is the most popular sport to attend? Maybe the economy of the different times has played a role with worse economy being paired to troughs and better economy being paired to peaks? The development of television and televised sports games might have also played a role. Possible title: "Sports Leagues Continue to bring in Ticket Sales even in the Modern Age."
We noticed that the league with the most games have a greater number of annual ticket sales.
We wonder how many tickets are sold per game for all leagues on average.
"Ticket Sales Throughout Americas Sport Leagues"
@Team Table Group What do you think about the differences in sales between the sports?
I noticed that major league baseball tickets are sold significantly more than minor league baseball tickets, and NBA or NFL tickets. I am wondering what caused the drop in tickets in the mid 90's for the MLB, and the sudden dips in the NBA in 1998 and 2012. I also wonder why the MLB sells so many more tickets, even though the NBA and NFL produce more revenue. Our catchy headline is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Baseball Bills Big Ticket Sales"
@Sophie and Lainey The MLB plays a drastically high amount of gamed per season, especially in comparison to the NFL.
I noticed that Basketball had 2 dips in the graph and Baseball has jumps and dips but rose in general, while football stayed constant for the most part. I wonder if the reason ticket sales are so high for baseball is because of the number of games rather than popularity of the sport. "Ticket sales begin to decline"
Good morning, @Trevor, Logan --
Bet you’re right about the fact that baseball sells more tickets because it has more games. What other variables affect ticket sales?
What would be another measure of sport league popularity? Please return tomorrow to get the link to the article that included this graph. The journalist gives some other measures of sports popularity.
Headline: Tickets... Going Once, Going Twice, and SOLD!
I notice I noticed that in this graph, the MLB ticket sales are substantially higher than the ticket sales of the NBA and NFL. Baseball has definitely sold way more tickets than football and basketball. In addition, the highest sale on the whole graph is for baseball, which sold 55 million tickets in 1992. However, the number of tickets for MLB significantly dropped right after its peak in 1992. I also noticed that each sport went through certain dips in sales, but all have risen since 1992.
I wonder is what the sales of each league would look like if they had the same number of games. The number of ticket sales per league is being compared, but they are on an unfair scale because each league having a different number of games. In addition, why was there such a large drop in ticket sales for the MLB in 1992-1996? I wonder why baseball sells so many more tickets compared to the NFL and NBA. A couple of reasons could be the number of games or the size of the arena.
HI, @Abby AOSE --
You give two possible reasons for more baseball ticket sales: number of games and size of arena. What other variables could affect ticket sales?
What’s the reason for rather flat ticket sales for basketball and football? You may find an answer in your variable of size of the arena.
@Sharon
Hello Sharon,
I guess you are implying that the flat ticket sales for football and basketball come from the size of the arena. If the arena is smaller than that of baseball, then fewer tickets will be offered to be sold. Is this the reason?
We noticed that baseball has the most annual ticket sales. We wonder why the number of tickets cold declined so sharply in 1994?
Good morning, @Ms Laurella's Class --
I wonder why baseball has the most annual ticket sales. What do you think? You are in the center of so many sports teams. You probably have ideas why total ticket sales vary by league.
In your opinion (take a survey of the class?), which sports team is the most popular? What measure, other than a poll, could you use to determine the team’s popularity?
@Ms Laurella's Class Yes I did as well and i'm confused because that is not the most interesting sport up there in my opinion.
If sports fans do not have World Series fever tonight, baseball's prospects are dim. Some amazing baseball has been played in the past six games -- 54 runs total. The Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals are tied 3 games each. Whoever wins tonight's game is the World Series winner. Start time: 8 pm ET.
I wonder what the baseball ticket sales will be next year – for Major League Baseball and for the Astros and the Nationals.
I notice that major league baseball has the highest annual ticket sales in the year of 1992 at around 55 million. I notice that the National Football League had the lowest annual ticket in 1992 at around 10 million. I also notice that Major League Baseball has overall had the highest annual ticket sales. I also notice that the National Football League has had the most static incline out of all the other leagues. I notice that the Major League Baseball has had the most dynamic changes over the years in ticket sales. I wonder why all the leagues has had these specific changes over the years and if there was a underlying factor that generated the number of ticket sales. I wonder why Major League Baseball has had the highest number of annual ticket sales. I am surprised that football has the least ans I wonder why that is. I also wonder why Minor League Baseball has had a spike in sales around 2015. I also wonder why there was a spike in sales for the Major League Baseball around 2007. In this graph, the annual ticket sales for the Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, National Basketball Association, and the National Football League are recorded from 1992 to 2017. It shows the number of ticket sales on a scale from 0 to 75 million. A catchy headline for this graph is " Your Favorite Sports and How Many People Pay to Watch Them".
HI, @Marina W --
Thank you for all of your noticings and wonderings. Do you think that ticket sales are the best measure of popularity of a sport? Explain the reasoning of your answer. Please return tomorrow to get the link to the article that included this graph. The journalist gives some other measures of sports popularity.
@Sharon
We think TV ratings and likes on social media can be determiners of sports popularity. The students are wondering if you are AI or a real human being? Srsly.
Students noticed that major league baseball heavily dropped. Students noticed minor league baseball is higher than 2 major sports. Students wondered why football hasnt increased or decreased. Students wondered why baseball dropped so bad.
Good morning, @Mrs. Riley's class --
Thank you for your noticings and wonderings.
The difference between baseball and basketball and football ticket sales is great – almost 3 times more baseball tickets than either basketball or football tickets. What variables (or factors) can affect ticket sales? Which ones have values that are very different for baseball versus basketball or football? Please share with us your answer. Many other students are wondering just like you.
@Mrs. Riley
I also wonder why baseball has had major drops. Call it the MLB drop.
I was shocked by the data displayed on the graph, I didn’t know how popular major league baseball is compared to other sports. Most shockingly I observed that minor league baseball has sufficiently higher sales than the NFL, I wonder why. Overall ticket sales for all 4 sports have stayed pretty consistent over the past 25 years. The MLB had a mild spike in sales around 1995, it has also never dipped below 50 million.
Headline: Ticket Sales for Sports over the past 25 years
HI, @Lauren AOSE --
Journalists go for surprise in their articles. It makes readers spend more time on the article. And, shock is even better.
What shocked you about the data displayed in the graph? What were you expecting? If you are shocked, you must be wondering why the sales are at these levels. What are you wondering? Maybe your classmates have conjectures of why the graph is the way it is. Please share with us your thoughts.
I notice the MLB ticket sales are far greater than the other sports, but they also have a lot more games in their season.
Proportionally what does this graph look like after showing who really would have the biggest ticket sales with the same amount of games in each sport.
Come Get Your Tickets
Good morning, @Will --
You noticed that baseball has more ticket sales, but conjecture that this is because they have more games. You then offer an alternative method of measuring popularity: ticket sales per game. Bet you could easily find the annual number of games by league and calculate ticket sales per game. But, does this measure popularity? What other measures could also gauge popularity?
1. We noticed that MLB tickets have increased over time but recently are going down
2. We wonder if this is because the games take so long
3. Ticket sales have generally been going up over time. More Tickets not Crickets.
HI, @Erica --
You noticed and you wondered.
The headline “More Tickets not Crickets” catches my interest. But, please explain the crickets.
Hey, @Erica! I'm intrigued by your headline, "More Tickets not Crickets,” and I love a good rhyme! I've heard the phrase about hearing crickets when there are no people around, but I know some parts of the country do not use that phrase. Is that what you're referring to? Maybe you could add a word in to make it more clear that you aren’t hearing the crickets because of all of the people (if that is what you mean). Thank you for your post and definitely for the catchy headline!
title: "baseball has surpassed America's greatest sports in ticket sales"
minor and major league baseball is far higher in ticket sales compared to football, which is shocking.
Why is baseball such a higher ticket seller compared to basketball and football, which are arguably more popular?
this graph shows the number of ticket sales for each sport.
@MA
Yes, baseball has a higher amount of tickets sold, but what are some possible causes? Some possibilities could be the size of the arena or the number of games within the season, or the number of teams registered in the sport.
We notice how the football line has been steadily increasing throughout the years without ever having a real decrease in ticket sales.
Why is there such a large decrease in major league baseball between 1992 and 1997?
Catchy title: Ticket sales for baseball are out of the park
HI, @Aden and Nicholas --
1992 to 1997 is a long slump in ticket sale for baseball. There also seems to be a peak in 1993. I wonder what may have caused the peak and why did they sharply decrease and what brought them back? I’d add, I wonder why sales have declined since 2007?
Finally, what has been the trend in ticket sales for the Twins?
This graph shows the annual ticket sales for four of the major sports leagues in America. The graph shows that although the ticket sales for Major League Baseball have varied since 1992, it always leads the ticket sales by over 15 million tickets. I wonder why both baseball leagues have led the ticket sales for so long. The National Basketball Association and the National Football League are close in the number of tickets and I wonder why they are so close when the baseball leagues are so far ahead. Title: Baseball Hits Home Run with Ticket Sales
@Brianna C
Good observations, Brianna! However, do you think that baseball is more popular than any other sports in the graph because it is America's pastime and originated in America?
I notice that baseball has the highest amount of annual ticket sales. Why does MLB have more ticket sells than football when football is seems to be more popular in the U.S. Most ticket sales for each sport has stayed steady for the past 30 years. Our title would be America's past time sells the most tickets
We noticed that baseball has the highest number of ticket sales, probably due to the number of games in the baseball season. We wonder what the graph would look like if it were ticket prices. Our catchy headline is, "number of tickets."
@Mr. Kingsbury's class Good observation. It seems reasonable to say that baseball has more because of the number of games in a season. I also wonder what it looked like with ticket prices.
We noticed that baseball has the most annual sales, over basketball and football.
We wonder why football stays steady most of the time.
The Big 3 Sports: Baseball, Basketball and Football
@Carter Good points. I also wonder why the football ticket sales stay the most steady. Do you think there is a specific reason for the baseball to have the most?
We noticed that during lock outs of the leagues, ticket sales dropped.
We wonder why the baseball league had a large drop around 1993
Happy times happy fans!
@Matthew and Kendra
what are lock outs?
We notice that baseball ticket sales are far higher and always have been.
We wonder if there is any correlation between the ticket sales of different sports.
Baseball: America's Favorite Passtime
Welcome to Wednesday's moderation of “What’s Going On in This Graph?”
Today’s graph shows the annual ticket sales by sports league. How do the sales compare? What changes over time are there?
From 9 am – 2 pm E.T. today, share with us your responses online to these three questions -- "What do you notice?", "What do you wonder?", and "What's going on in this graph?"
Plus, please share with us a catchy headline that captures the ideas about the graph.
We welcome your replying to other students with questions on their responses and answers to their wonderings. Join in on the discussion.
On Thursday afternoon, we’ll reveal the article that included this graph and much more. We look forward to reading your discoveries.
The next “What’s Going On in This Graph?” will be released tomorrow -- Thursday, October 31 with moderation on Wednesday, November 6. The topic – our presidents’ experience before their first term.
One thing I noticed is that Major League Baseball was the highest of ticket sales and not something else like football or basketball. For someone who lives in the south, you would think football would be it, but you have to to think of all regions not just your own. I wonder if one day the minor league baseball will ever suppress major or stay below. My title for this chart would be Major Takes the Lead.
Good morning, @Mya ATTEN --
You’re right – major league baseball sells far more tickets than either major league basketball or football. Why do you think this is true? What factors (or variables) go into the total sales of tickets?
You say that baseball is not as popular in the South than football or basketball. Is there a way you can quantify this? Search online for data that supports your claim, then share with us your information.
In this graph, I notice that the highest-selling sports tickets are MLB. MLB tickets have increased then decreased then increased once again from 1992 to 2017. I also notice that NFL tickets are the lowest selling tickets out of all 4 sports. By the graph, you can tell that NFL tickets haven't really increased nor decreased since 1992. The NBA has also had years where their profits significantly decreased compared to other years where the ticket sales were steady. I wonder why NFL ticket sales are over $50 million less than MLB tickets. In addition, when the sales of that year decreased, why did they decrease remarkably. Was it because during that year the teams weren't performing as well as they had in the past? or is it because people started spending money on different kinds of sports.
HEADLINE: Sports Associations Ticket Sale Prices
@Ava AOSE we agree with what you wonder because football is so popular now a days.
Good morning, @Ava AOSE --
You bring up many interesting noticings and wonderings. Regarding the changes in ticket sales over time, there are several factors (or variables) that go into the ticket sales data. Discuss with your classmates what else besides team performance and fans alternative spending choices could affect ticket sales for each sport.
Also, take a second look at the label on the vertical y-axis. What are the units? You may want to revise your headline in light of what you notice.
One thing that really stood out to me was that Major leagues sold more tickets then any of the other options. The Major league baseball also hadn’t their sales go up so much faster. I wonder why Major league basketball baseball so much itch more people more popular then the other sports on the graph i would name this graph “Major league sales take a major lead in ticket sales.”
One title we came up with is "Ticket Sales, Game Over." We noticed that this graph represents a system and lockouts and strikes cause decrease in ticket sales.
One thing I noticed is that Major League Baseball sold the most tickets to a game during a season. One thing that surprised me was that the national basketball league sold one of the least amounts. A title for this would be “baseball over basketball”.
@Ross We also noticed that baseball sold the most. Why do you think people prefer one sport over another?
One thing I notice that Major League Baseball sold the most tickets to a game during a season. Something that surprised me was that minor league baseballs sold more tickets than nfl does. A cool title for this graph would be “ minor league takes over nfl”
@Drew
Good observation. Why do you think the Minor leagues sold more tickets than the NFL did? Do you think it's because minor league tickets are less expensive than NFL tickets?
One thing I notice that Major League Baseball sold the most tickets to a game during a season. Something that surprised me was that minor league baseballs sold more tickets than nfl does. A cool title for this graph would be “ minor league takes over nfl
@Drew Nice headline. Why do you think the minor league is succeeding the NFL in sales?
@Drew
I like the title! Why do you think that the minor league baseball sold more tickets? Do you have any guesses as to why they would outsell leagues like the NFL or NBA?
I notice that baseball in general is way more appeasing to watch than football has even been. In some time periods, almost 65 million people would rather watch a Major League Baseball game than a NFL game. I wonder why there was such a large drop in sales for MLB games in 1993. Nearly 21 million people stopped going Tom MLB games. My catchy caption is “MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS WILL ALWAYS BE MORE FUN TO WATCH THAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS. PERIODT.”
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@Marissa Newell We love your title.... periodt pooh! We were also wondering what caused the sudden dip. Also we love to watch baseball players
I was wondering why the Major League Baseball sales were the most variable
@John smith
Good question. I was wondering the same thing, along with how the Major League Baseball sales maintained the highest even at their lower points. Do you have any suggestions as to why this could be possible?
I notice that Minor League Baseball ticket sales are growing more rapidly than the others....and wonder if the minor leagues are expanding. Their ticket sales almost doubled over a time when the US population grew by about 20%
@Bernie
Do you think that minor league baseball is becoming more popular than the NFL or NBA? Do you think it has anything to do with the popularity of one sport dominating the other sport?
I noticed that the major league baseball and the minor league baseball were higher than the national basketball assn and the national football league. Then I wondered why the national football league and national basketball assn were lower than the minor league baseball and major league baseball. If I was to name this graph it would be "Tickets Of Surprise".
Right off the bat, I notice the overwhelming dominance of Major and Minor League Baseball ticket sales over other sports featured on the graph. I figure this difference comes as a result of factors such as the number of games and ticket prices for each sport. I also notice the close competition between basketball and football sales, and that basketball has consistently sold more with the exception of a brief dip in the late 90s.
I wonder what may have caused the several dips and spikes in ticket sales over the years. Some of these may have been the result of boycotts.
@Nathaniel Holzknecht Interesting idea regarding boycotts I didn't even think about that. There has definitely been some controversy in the NFL
I noticed that in this graph, the MLB ticket sales are substantially higher than the ticket sales of the NBA and NFL. What I wonder is what the sales of each league would look like if they had the same number of games. The number of ticket sales per league is being compared, but they are on an unfair scale because each league having a different number of games. If I were to headline this graph, I would headline it, "What Can Ticket Sales Tell Us?"
I notice that although the National Football League and the National Basketball Association seem to be much more popular in today's society, the MLB has more than double the amount of ticket sales. This graph shows that both major and minor league produce more tickets than basketball and football. I wonder why baseball sells so much more tickets compared to the NFL and NBA. A couple reasons could be amount of games or size of arena. A catchy headline for this graph is, "Does popularity reflect ticket sales?".
What do you notice? The graph claims that baseball has had higher sales than other U.S. sports leagues for the past 25 years a s supported by the graph.
What do you wonder? Do the number of ticket sales equal the popularity of the sport in the U.S.
What's going on in this graph? MLB sales have been knocking it out of the park?
Is It Popularity or Something Bigger
I noticed that Major League Baseball sells more tickets than the other sports displayed on the graph. It almost doubles and even triples the sales of the other sports. I wonder if this is a result of baseball's popularity in comparison to basketball and football. Maybe this is a result of baseball fields having larger arenas. Are there more teams participating in Major League Baseball than the other sports? Or are there just fewer games and opportunities to purchase tickets in other sports.
- What do you notice?
That major baseball league tickets have the most sales.
- what do you wonder?
If ticket sales are because the sport is popular, or Major baseball league tickets sell at lower prices.
- What’s going on in the graph?
Baseball Beats Other Sports By A Long Run
Somethings that I noticed about the graph that Major League Baseball seemed to have sold more than twice as many tickets annually as every other sport listed on the graph. The graph did gove us an idea as to what it was that we were to gather from this graph but I wonder if this graph was to be used as evidence to prove the claim that baseball is the superior sport in comparison to the other listed sports
I noticed that baseball appears to have the most ticket sales. There is not clear information on the graph about what may be the cause of the popularity of the ticket sales. I also noticed that each sport went through certain dips in sales, but all have risen since 1992. I wonder what caused the sudden dips in each sport and how it affected the players and workers. I think a good title for this graph would be "The Rise and Fall of National Sports Ticket Sales."
From viewing the graph, I noticce that compared to many sports, baseball tickets are really popular (mainly major league). This could be because many fans enjoy the sport or the tickets are sold for a good cheap price, so many sport fans are encouraged to buy the tickets. Other factors could include the number of teams, size of revenue, and more. Based on the graph, football games are more popular than basketball games since the annual ticket sales have been at a constant and steady rate since 1992, unlike basketball games, which dramatically decreases during the years of 1997 and 2012. I wonder why the ticket sales vary so much between the years. A catchy headline could be named as "The Rise and Falls of Our Favorite Sports" since there's a large difference in the ticket sales between the four types of sports.
I noticed that the major league baseball ticket sales were extremely higher than the other sports sales. I wonder if the ticket prices have an influence on the number of ticket sales.
"Does Ticket Price Equal Ticket Sales?"
-I notice that the baseball sports leagues sold the highest number of tickets, but the Major League sold the most amount of tickets.
-I wonder if baseball sold the most tickets because of popularity, or if it is liked more by others.
-Sports Leagues ticket sales over the years
I notice the annual ticket sales of the major baseball leauge sells more tickets than any other league that is on the graph. I wonder why the major baseball league is selling the most tickets over anything else in the graph. The annual ticket sales by league being compared, not fairly because of the amount of games and the size of the arena where the game is being taken place. A good catchy headline for this graph could be "Tickect Sales, Ain't No Fair!".
I noticed that both baseball leagues have higher annual ticket sales than basketball and football. Football has the most consistent ticket sales out of the four. I wonder if size of stadiums, ticket prices, and where the games are effects the number of tickets sold. "Which Sport League is Most Popular?"
I notice that, while the chart shows the ticket sales of the sports and the correlating years, it doesn't provide any more data of factors that might influence the ticket sales. I wonder exactly is this, and what precisely changed the outcome. It could be anything from ticket prices to availability. I think a good slogan for this chart would be "MLB knocks other professional sports out of the park with annual ticket sales."
I Noticed:
At first glance, anyone would automatically assume that Major League Baseball is the most popular sport by looking at the graph. Upon closer examination, you may notice that the ticket sales in baseball and basketball are not consistent. Major League Baseball, especially, fluctuates an extreme amount throughout the years. It must be taken into consideration how many games each league plays. the MLB, for example, plays 162 games compared to NFL's 16 games. There will obviously be more ticket sales for a huge gap in the number of games played.
I Wonder:
I still wonder which league is more popular. If each league played the same number of games, which would be more popular? I would also like to know if the cost of tickets has an effect on sales.
In this graph, it is easy to notice that baseball appears to be a more popular sport than basketball and football based on ticket sales. This makes sense seeing as there are more games per season of baseball than the other two. Football is lowest, but it stays consistent, suggesting that the same people go to the games yearly and are committed fans. This graph makes me wonder as to why the baseball ticket sales vary so much and why there is such a big difference in major and minor league baseball ticket sales. A possible headline for this would be "What Sports League Has The Highest Ticket Sales?"
Major League Baseball has more annual ticket sales compared to Minor League Baseball, NBA, or NFL. However, I noticed there was a steep decline in ticket sales for Major League Baseball in mid-1990s and NBA in 2010s for some reason. It makes me wonder about the reasons that caused such fluctuations. Some reasons may be ticket prices or how long each sports' season is. The lines for Minor League Baseball and NFL did not have big fluctuations between 1992 and 2017, but Major League Baseball and NBA had big drops for ticket sales. A headline for this graph can be, "The Underdogs Of Major USA Sports In Ticketing."
Notice: The amount of money that baseball makes from ticket sales is greatly larger than the NFL and NBA. Even minor league baseball makes more in ticket sales than the NFL and NBA.
Wonder: Why is the NFL and NBA getting less in ticket sales than minor baseball teams? Why are there sudden drops in sales for the NBA? Why does the NFL have the most consistent sales?
What's going on: This graph depicts the different ticket sales of each sport. The low crests of the graph represents the strikes going on at the time involving baseball. Major league baseball's commercial success.
After looking at the annual ticket sale chart, I noticed that a majority of the ticket sales were for major league baseball. I was surprised that MLB had higher ticket sales than NFL and NBA. I Wondered if this was due to the price of the tickets. Since I know more about music than sports, I thought of this as if it was annual ticket sales for music artists. Prices play a big role in the amount of sale. For instance, the more expensive the tickets are, the less amount of people will buy them. Maybe the large MLB sales compared the small NFL and NBA sales are due to the ticket prices. I would name this graph "Annual Ticket Sales Impacted by Prices".
I noticed that Major League Baseball seems to have higher ticket sales annually than the Minor League Baseball, Basketball, and Football. The NFL also seems to be consistent with their sales while MLB seems to fluctuate. I wonder why other sports are not included in this analysis of ticket sales like hockey. A catchy title would be " Which Sport Is More Popular."
I noticed that major league baseball ticket sales are much higher than the other sports. This is due to the fact that the MLB has a higher amount of games than the NBA or NFL, meaning an increase in tickets sales overall. I wonder if there are more baseball fans than football and basketball fans in America, and if that is a contributing factor to the amount of sales. If I were to write an article about this topic and base it off of this graph, the name would be "Is Baseball Still America's Favorite Sport?"
1
In this graph, I notice that major league baseball has the highest annual ticket sales compared to minor league baseball, national basketball association, and the national football league. I wonder if this is because major league baseball is the most popular out of the four. Or are the ticket sales related to something else? The most likely cause of the high sales for major league baseball could be how many games are played in a season, the amount of seats in the arena, or who is playing in the game. Headline: "Baseball overcomes America's favorite sport, football!"
I notice that the graph compares the annual ticket sales of the MLB, Minor League Baseball, NBA, and NFL. This comparison is not fair for many reasons. The Major League Baseball season lasts for 162 games while the National Basketball Association and National Football Associations seasons last for 82 games and 16 games respectively. Ticket prices are also different for each league. The NFL sells the most costly tickets and the Minor League Baseball sells the cheapest tickets.
I wonder why the NFL doesn't have spikes in its graphs compared to the MLB and NBA. I wonder why the major factors of the tickets prices are not included in the graph as they would greatly affect the data.
Headline: "Do ticket sales really show the whole story?"
Grand Slam Ticket Sales: MLB on top of ticket sales
I noticed that the NFL was the only truly consistent sport when it came to ticket sales. I wonder what caused the drop in ticket sales in 1995 for the MLB. What's going on is that the MLB has the cheapest tickets, longest season, and most amount of games, therefore they have the highest ceiling in tickets able to be sold.
I have noticed that not all the sports are included but out of the sports that are included baseball is the most popular one because the graph shows it has the most ticket sales.
I wonder if baseball is the most popular one because it has the cheapest ticket sale.
Is baseball becoming the most popular sport?
In this graph, I have noticed that it does not account for the length of the seasons in which each sport plays for. The MLB plays for 162 games whereas the NBA is only 82 and the NFL is only 16. Nor does this account for what the ¨millions¨ on the Y-axis stands for. I wonder whether this is ticket sales or individual dollars earned per season. The graph represents the number of ¨millions¨ earned per season per sport and in this graph, there are drops and rises in those millions. Such as, from 1998-1999 NBA seasons were shortened by lockouts, and the MLB season in 1994 was shortened due to player strikes making the graph spike downward in ¨sales¨. The sports are non-comparable, the seasos´ lengths and even stadium sizes are too different to be able to say whether one is more successful than the other.
Notice:
Baseball is significantly higher than the other sports basketball and football, also, the football sales are the most consistent with their sales instead of the others which would dramatically drop or gain in sales.
Wonder:
How come the annual sales of baseball is way higher than the others? Does it take into account of the amount of games each league has to play? Or why the higher selling leagues have times of drastically dropping, yet, NFL has the most consistent so what did they do different than the others?
What:
The graph is showing the comparisons of annual sells between the four NFL, NBA, Minor League Baseball, and Major League baseball.
Headline: NFL is the most consistent sport in the world?
Notice:
Hockey, soccer, and golf are not included
NFL is decreasing in ticket sales, but mainly consistent
Baseball has a lot of fluctuation
Minor league baseball’s highest sales year is higher than major league baseballs lowest year
Wondering:
Why are some sports included and others are not? What made them pick those? Was it much lower ticket sales?
Is the high price of tickets the reason that NFL is lowest?
Why does the data not go further back in years?
Why is there so much variation in MLB?
In the annual ticket sales from 1992-2019 the Major League and Minor League baseball, NBA, and NFL tickets are drastically different. Major and Minor league baseball have way more tickets sold, and basketball and football are not exact, but similar, but still not as much as baseball. Football only has 16 games, basketball has 82 games, and baseball has 162 games, making this graph an uneven comparison overall. Each has around 30 teams, but basketball has a smaller stadium than football and baseball making it harder to fill with fans. This shows that this is an uneven comparison.
Baseball games gone wild cops called!!! I noticed that baseball has a greater ticket sale than football and basketball. I wonder why basketball has a better ticket sale than football? The thing that is going on is baseball has more games more people going to their games. While football and basketball have really expensive tickets that's why they don't get bought a lot. Therefore; they have lower ticket sales.
Good afternoon, @isabelle mitchell. Thank you for joining our discussion. I appreciate that you are suggesting possible answers to your own questions. Baseball does have many more games that the other sports, and I believe that you are correct that is part of the story we see in this graph. I wonder if basketball and football teams had the number of games as baseball does, could they draw more people for the additional games?
You also mention about the price of tickets making less people buy football and basketball tickets. Although I do see your logic, I don’t see many empty seats in the stadiums and arenas, so I’m not sure that we have a situation of those tickets not being bought. Is it possible they are selling as many tickets as they can?
Check back tomorrow for the link to see what the journalist found in the original article.
I noticed that there was a drop in ticket sales when the players went on strike in MLB.
I wonder why basketball has more ticket sales than football.
Major League Baseball wipes the field in ticket sales
@William Ngo
I wonder why basketball has more ticket sales than football as well. The NBA has fewer teams than the NFL and usually fewer seats in the building ni which they are playing. Football is played in a stadium that seats many people, so I wonder why, with more teams and more space, the football sales are still lower than the NBA sales.
I notice that this graph compares annual ticket sales of the MLB, Minor League, NBA, and the NFL. However, this is not a fair comparison due to the major differences in ticket price and number of games. I wonder why there are no spikes in the NFL throughout the years. This graph compares annual ticket sales of four different leagues, however, prices and number of games is not mentioned. This would greatly affect the data of this graph.
Headline: Annual ticket sales of MLB skyrocket, but do we know the full story?
@Turner Friday I appreciate your quest for more information. I do think you may have a good idea to look into how many games each league plays in a year to find some reasons why this graph looks this way, but I do disagree with labeling it unfair. Many times, there is more to the story inside of a graph, but it does not make it an unfair comparison. The number of games may be part of the story and possibly the prices of tickets as well. Can you think of other variables that may be included in the story of this graph? For instance, you pondered why there was not much variability in the number of ticket sales in the NFL over the years. Is there a reason the NFL can only sell so many tickets? Have there been events in the NFL such as strikes and lockouts that other leagues have needed to manage? Be sure to check back tomorrow to find the link to the original article to see what the journalist found, and keep seeking more information!
I noticed that it is hard to compare the different sports because of the number of games, teams, and popularity of each sport. I wonder why there were so many drops and spikes in Major League Baseball and why there was a spike in Minor League Baseball.
Catchy Headline:
“Have you contributed to the increasing ticket sales of one of these popular sports?”
What do you notice?
Major League Baseball ticket sales are exponentially higher than ticket sales in the other listed Leagues; football has had the lowest amount of gross ticket sales.
What do you wonder?
How many games has each sport had? (as this can affect the gross ticket sale amount).
What caused the spike sales within Minor League Baseball.
What is the cost of tickets per game?
What's going on? Write a catchy headline!
The total sales in tickets for these sports are being recorded and displayed on a graph. Each one shows a steady increasing trend.
HEADLINE:
Gross Ticket Sales; Inclusive - 1992-2017
Good afternoon, @Dakota Bell. Thank you for sharing what you noticed and wondered. I do want to caution you to be careful with the word “exponential.” Remember that word has a very specific meaning with numbers, and I’m not sure that you meant that any of them were growing exponentially.
You had some great questions. That’s a good insight about the number of games affecting the number of tickets sold. Do the different leagues play a different number of games than each other each year? How many MLB games are played? How many NBA games? How many NFL games? You may be onto something here. Use the actual numbers to back up your thought to not only answer your own question but also to inform others. Be sure to check back tomorrow to find the link to the original article. You may see that the journalist has some similar thoughts as you as well as some others.
I’m also curious about what you see when you say that each line is steady as well as increasing. I’m not sure that I agree that all are “steady”. Which ones have more variability (change from year to year). I see that they all increase somewhat, but do some increase more than others?
Is there a catchy headline you would use to draw more people in to looking at the graph?
I noticed that the graph might not have been comparing properly. There are different prices and amounts of games for each league witch could cause the graph to be misleading.
I wonder what makes baseball so popular? Could t be the prices or accessibility, or is it just a love of the sport by many?
What is going on? The graph displays the NBA and NFL earning 10-20 million sales and compares them to the roughly 40 million for Minor Baseball league, and around 75 million for the Major Baseball League.
Catchy headline: "Baseball hits a home run on ticket sales!"
I noticed that the National Football League sells way less tickets then the other leagues. Major League Baseball has a big downfall between 1992-1997. I wonder how many games total that each league has. Also, I wonder does the number of games hender the number of ticket sales. The graph shows annual ticket sales between sports. A catchy headline would be "Major League Baseball ticket sales come sliding in #1!"
Good afternoon, @Mary Eloise Barfield. Thank you for your response to the graph. You are absolutely correct that a lot less tickets were sold to MLB games during that time period. Was there an event during that time period that would have caused the drop in ticket sales? I think you may be onto a good idea about the number of games affecting the ticket sales. Is there a big difference in the number of games per year in each of these sports? Return tomorrow for the link to the original story to see other factors that the journalist found. I like that you used the baseball term “sliding” in your headline almost like they were sliding into a base. I wonder if it would be catchier if you used first instead of #1?
Notice: MLB is less consistent but sales more than the others.\
Minor league is increasing rapidly.
Wonder: why is MLB so popular?
Hello, @aBiE. Thank you for your post. Do you think ticket sales are a dependable predictor of popularity? Or are there other issues that may cause ticket sales to be higher than being more popular?
I notice that MLB sells a lot more tickets annually compared to other national sports. I also notice that NFL ticket sales are very continuous despite the recent events with Colin Kaepernick. I wonder why MLB sells so many more tickets than other sports and also if the price of tickets to each game plays a part in this major difference. A headline I came up with for this graph is "How popular really is your sport?"
I noticed that one of the most stand out differences in the graph is that the NFL and NBA are drastically lower in tickets sales compared to the MLB.This stood out to me because I didn´t know that the revenue brought in by the MLB was that high nor that much higher compared to its competitors.
i noticed that football and basketball are the only consistent sports than major and minor league baseball. That makes me wonder why aren't the major and minor leagues consistent like the rest of the sports. I also notice that the minor leagues has been growing more popular over the year which is the only one that's actually growing and having very little drops.
Hi, @Sean --
You wondered about why baseball major and minor leagues do not have stable ticket sales and why there has been growth of minor league baseball ticket sales. Ask others for their conjectures. And, if you watch sports on television, think about the attendance you see in the stadium. This may give you some answers.
Third period science:
Notice:
NFL is consistent with ticket sales
Besides the lockouts, the NBA is consistent in sales
MLB is more variable, even taking into account the strike
Minor league baseball is increasing
Wonder:
Why is NFL more consistent than MLB?
Why is there a major spike in minor league baseball around 2015?
I notice that Minor League baseball may be getting more popular than Major League because as shown in the years 2012-2017 the minor leagues had a big increase while major leagues had a slow decrease. I also wonder why the NFL has always been steady and never had an increase or decrease. A creative title that I came up with for this article would be "Which one of your favorite sports is the most popular in the U.S."
1. Major League Baseball sales blow Minor League Baseball, NBA, and NFL ticket sales out of the park. Its line is substantially higher.
2. I wonder why the NFL never had any high or low peaks in sales.
3. Major League Baseball Hits a Homerun in Ticket Sales!
Notice- I notice that major league baseball sales are higher than minor league baseball, the NBA, and the NFL. The NFL has the least number of ticket sales overall.
Wonder- I wonder if the NFL is selling less tickets than the major league baseball because their tickets are so expensive compared to major league baseball.
The graph is showing the different annual ticket sales by leagues between 1992 and 2017.
Thank you @Juna Julian for your comments. That’s an interesting hypothesis about the price of tickets. Are there many seats left empty at the football games, or are teams able to sell all of their tickets despite the higher prices? Are there other variables that may cause there to be less tickets to the football games than to the baseball games?
What do you think would be a headline for the graph that would catch people's attention?
I noticed that basketball and football are more popular spoorts but they have the least amount of ticket sales. I wonder why did the minor league baseball have a sudden increase in ticket sales in 2013? Annual Ticket Sales By Our Most Popular Sports.
HI, @Tkay Knight --
You notice that basketball and football have the least number of ticket sales and then claim that they are more popular than baseball. What data would you use to support your claim that basketball and football are more popular?
Come back tomorrow to get the link to the article that included this graph. They will show you other criteria that support your claim.
Title: Baseball replaces football as America's #1 sport!
I noticed that both major and minor league had higher ticket sales than football and basketball.
I wonder if the reason why baseball is the highest is that their tickets have lower prices and are easy access.
I noticed that football kept a constant line for its ticket sales withing those years. I wonder why the ticket sales for the minor league baseball went up a good amount around 2015. "Surprising Sports League Ticket Sales"
1. I noticed that surprisingly the NFL and the NBA are not the highest
2. I wonder about the obvious drop in some sports numbers
3. Major Leagues Sports Ticket Sales
Notice:
- I notice that there were less tickets sold for the NFL and NBA than major and minor league baseball.
Wonder:
- I wonder if there are less tickets sold for the NFL and NBA because of the outrageously expensive prices.
The graph is showing the annual ticket sales by each popular sports league between the years 1992-2017.
HI, @Avery Roberts --
You wonder if there are fewer tickets sold for the NFL and NBA because of the outrageously expensive prices. I bet you could do a quick search online to find ticket prices. Ticket prices vary considerably not only among leagues but also from team to team within a league.
If fans were not buying tickets because of their price, you’d see lots of empty seats in stadiums. What data could you search for to support your hypothesis that expensive tickets are keeping fans from attending games?
Notice:
I noticed that both major and minor league had higher ticket sales than football and basketball.
Wonder:
I wonder if the reason why baseball is the highest is that their tickets have lower prices and are easy access.
Header:
Baseball replaces football as America's #1 sport.
HI, @Hannah Collins --
Your headline is “Baseball replaces football as America's #1 sport.” Do you think this true? Are ticket sales a good measure of popularity? If no, why not? What other measure could be used. Please return tomorrow to get the link to the article that included this graph. The journalist gives some other measures of a sport’s popularity.
1
I notice MLB spiked in sales in the early 90's, then had a major down fall, NFL has stayed pretty consistent throughout the years.
I wonder does cost of ticket affect ticket sales? Are there more MLB teams than other teams.
1992-2017 ticket sales graph as revealed MLB as the most ticket sold!
In the graph, I noticed that the Major Baseball League has the highest number of ticket sales even after a major sale downfall in 1994. In 2012, the NBA and NFL ticket sales were the same. In 2016, Minor League Baseball ticket sales spiked upwards. The NFL has the most consistent number of ticket sales across the years. I wonder what they mean by the phrase 'ticket sales'. Is it the number of tickets sold or revenue obtained from tickets? Does the length of the sports' seasons affect ticket sales? Do ticket sales have to do with the prices of the tickets?
Sports Statistics
Good morning, @Natalie Morse --
You bring up many interesting noticings and wonderings. May I throw out a few more variables to look into – number of teams, length of season, and capacity of stadiums and their percentage of seats sold. How do you think these variables would affect ticket sales?
Regarding whether the y-axis variable is number of tickets sold or ticket revenue, you want to check out the units on the labels. What do you notice? Labels are very important in graphs. Misunderstandings can result if they are absent or even unclear.
What do you notice?
-NFL is the most stable.
-MajorLB highest, but most movement.
-MinorLB raised steadily since 1992.
-NBA stable minus lockouts in 1998-99 & 2011-12.
What do you wonder?
-Does the length of the season affect the sales?
-What about the other sports?
What is going on in the graph?
-It is showing ticket sales from 1992-2017 for the 4 major leagues, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, National Football League, & the National Basketball Association.
HI,@Samantha --
You listed the NBA lockouts as the reason why ticket sales decreased.
I notice the peak in minor leagues baseball. I wonder why that happened? (What’s the opposite of a lockout?)
First period science
Notice:
Football is the most consistent
MLB has growth in early 90’s, then a major drop off
In 2012, basketball and football had the same tickets sales
Wonder:
Does the lowest ticket sales in football have to do with cost?
Does the length of the season (especially for baseball and football) affect the ticket sales?
HI, @S. Pfeifer --
Since you posted five days ago, I hope you see my reply.
You’ve brought up two variables that affect ticket sales: cost and length of season. What other variables may affect sales?
What are your favorite teams? See if you can find their ticket sales. Your insights into the teams may lead you to listing other variables that affect ticket sales.