[gusty]

It seems to me, that when the Yankees won all the time (I am not a Yankees fan by any stretch), the TV networks were falling over themselves to shove money at MLB. They were willing to pay more if the Yankees would play the Red Sox in the playoffs every year. The majority of fans like a few super teams, like the Yankees. The Yankees are truly America's team. The NYT published a map showing what team is popular in every area of the US. In every area that doesn't have a local MLB team, the Yankees were the favorites. The Yankees were the fan favorite in places like Nebraska, Mississippi, Montana, etc. Secondly, since parity has come to MLB, the TV ratings have falling off the cliff from late 1990’s early 2000’s high. With the young demographic, MLB is way behing the NFL and the NBA. It is struggling to stay ahead of MLS by a small margin.

[C210N]

In every area that doesn't have a local MLB team, the Yankees were the favorites. ...

Saw that too, interesting map. Perhaps this is more a comment on the Mets, but even around Flushing Queens, the Yanks rated higher than the Mets.

[Alberta's Child]

That's an excellent point, and I'd use the NHL as a great example of that. At one time it seemed like a great idea to embark on a major expansion to become an NBA-like sports league with a competitive franchise (there's that "legislated parity" again) in every major North American market, but when you look back over the last 20 years the evidence tells the opposite story. Interest in the NHL as reflected in TV ratings was probably at its lowest when teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning were winning the Stanley Cup, and was at its highest when traditional franchises like Detroit, Boston, Chicago and the New York Rangers were Stanley Cup finalists.

Los Angeles is an unusual case because it's a major TV market and the Kings have been around for almost 50 years, but it's not a traditional hockey market and the Kings have to compete with a lot of other sports/entertainment alternatives for fan interest.