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Cam Newton has had a decorated football career that includes a Heisman Trophy, a National Championship, an NFL Rookie of the Year award, an NFC Championship and NFL MVP. Perhaps, then, he should stick to talking about football.
However, he veered out of his lane last week on his "4th & 1" podcast with a spicy take about the future of Major League Baseball. Specifically, he called baseball a "dying sport" and claimed that he believes it will be surpassed in popularity by the WNBA in 20 years.
Needless to say, Newton's comments generated plenty of backlash from fans (and players) of said "dying sport," including Pittsburgh Pirates legend and fan favorite Andrew McCutchen.
The former National League MVP took to X to express his displeasure with Newton's analysis, saying that Newton "talks about baseball like a person who has never been around baseball talks about baseball."
He talks about baseball like a person who has never been around baseball talks about baseball. https://t.co/cah3XxTuQV
— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) December 27, 2024
Pirates' Andrew McCutchen blasts Cam Newton for ridiculous baseball take
Of all the takes about baseball, Newton's is certainly... one of them. The timing feels especially odd, considering MLB's October press release that revealed league-wide attendance during the 2024 season was the highest it had been since 2017. The release further stated that attendance has grown by nearly 6.8 million (a +11% increase) since the institution of MLB's new rules, which have "shortened games, removed dead time, helped showcase the athleticism of the players and created more action on the bases."
In terms of national TV ratings, ESPN’s "Sunday Night Baseball" saw a +12% increase in viewership from the age 18-34 demographic in 2024, while FS1 saw a +24% improvement. MLB.TV also set a new high of 14.5 billion minutes watched, marking a +14% increase over last year’s high mark of 12.7 billion minutes watched. Interestingly enough, the MLB debut of Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes on May 11 ranks as the sixth most-watched game in the streaming service’s history.
We'll reconvene in 2044 to determine whether Newton was correct in his take; for the time being, though, it feels pretty safe to say that baseball isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
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