Poll Shows By 4-To-1 U.S. Population Excited For 2023 MLB Season; Pitch Clock And Other MLB Rule Changes Seen As Positive

As the 2023 Major League Baseball season gets underway this week, a majority of fans and non-fans alike see the rule changes that MLB is putting into place this year – which includes a pitch clock – have more excitement about the highest level of baseball than last year at this time.

The poll conducted by Seton Hall shows enthusiasm for the upcoming season up by 20 points over the same poll last year. The polling looked at MLB fans, sports fans, and the general population.

Among the general population, 24% said they are more enthusiastic about the season compared to just 9% when the poll was run in 2022. For sports fans, excitement jumped from 16% last year to 36% this year. Avid sports fans clocked in at a robust 52% compared to 33% in 2022. For those that consider themselves dedicated MLB fans, 47% are thrilled with changes headed into the regular season.

“Of all the professional sports, Major League Baseball has been the most resistant to change,” said Professor Charles Grantham, Director of the Center for Sport Management within Seton Hall’s Stillman School of Business, which sponsors the Poll. “The MLB Commissioner, the teams, and the MLB Players Association have to be excited with these numbers as the fans, including the diehard MLB fans, are embracing these changes like the pitch clock and larger bases, among others.”

The poll was conducted the week of March 12 among 1,553 adults across the United States. The poll featured a national representative sample from YouGov weighted on U.S. Census Bureau figures for gender, age, ethnicity, education, income and geography and has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percent.

What’s important is that based on Spring Training games where the pitch clock has been used, there has been a decline in the number of people that think MLB games are too long. In 2022, over half of the population saw games are too long. Heading into this season, that has dropped nearly 10 points to 43%. Even avid MLB fans see game length as an issue. While 61% said that games were too long last year, 54% see games as too long heading into 2023, a sign that MLB sees the pitch clock as not just a mechanism to lure new fans, but to retain those already in place. The majority of hardcore MLB fans, 57%, said they would watch more games is they were shorter.

Data from Spring Training has shown the total game length has dropped by approximately 25 minutes due to the implementation of the pitch clock. While some avid fans have said that the league should simply allow umpires to enforce the rules on the books rather than introduce a clock to the game, the Seton Hall poll shows 73% of avid fans find the use of the clock acceptable with only 11% disagreeing with the use of it (16% neither agree nor disagree).

Other data from the poll:

• On the addition of larger bases: 50% of sports fans, 60% of avid fans and 55% of MLB fans favor going to an 18-inch bases size, an increase of 3 inches from the 15-inch bases used prior. The bases are designed to avoid collisions and with 4.5 inches less between 1^st and 2^nd base, 2^nd base to 3rd base should increase attempted steals.
• On banning of radical defensive shifts: just over half of MLB fans (52%) and nearly 60% of avid fans (59%) approved of the rule that now requires two infielders must be positioned on each side of second base when the pitch is released and the four infielders must have both feet within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber.

At the time of announcing the rule changes, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said that the changes were designed to increase fan engagement.

“These steps are designed to improve pace of play, increase action, and reduce injuries, all of which are goals that have overwhelming support among our fans,” Manfred said in a statement in September of last year. “Throughout the extensive testing of recent years, Minor League personnel and a wide range of fans – from the most loyal to casual observers – have recognized the collective impact of these changes in making the game even better and more enjoyable.”

Opening Day is this Thursday. The league has 15 games scheduled with the Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros as the national game on ESPN.