The next big challenge (already underway) for the sport is managing a cultural/generational transition where it turns from an "American" sport to a "foreign" one. Baseball talent here in the U.S. has declined a lot in recent decades, and you can already see signs that baseball is slowly being relegated to the same level of public attention as soccer. This is not a new thing, but you're starting to see the inevitable change that has come about as football and basketball eclipsed baseball as the preferred sports for American-born youngsters.
The average age of the baseball tv viewer is 93 years old. That’s a problem.
At the same time, live attendance is still solid across the league.
Sports popularity is cyclical. And out of all the sports, the one sitting on the biggest time bomb is the NFL. I live in Katy freaking Texas - home of arguably the best high school program in the country. And even here, you are starting to hear more and more mothers say, “My son is never playing football.”
Football is in real danger of becoming boxing in the next 30 years - a sport where only the most desperate athletes end up. And those most desperate athletes may not have the option because the poor schools where they tend to exist won’t be able to pay the insurance premiums.
Baseball isn’t going to face anything like the labor shortage that football could have.
I think baseball could largely be fixed if there was a movement to get its American players to loosen up. The World Baseball Classic was a massive success, because people loved the emotion and fun taking place on the field.
But once the real season started, you end up with guys throwing baseballs into hitter’s ears for daring to celebrate a home run.
Fix that and speed up the game, and baseball will start to get young fans again, I think.