Fan Base Going Fast, Poll Shows

Baseball has lost about one-third of its fans since last year, according to a Harris Poll released Sunday.

In May 1994, a Harris Poll found 49 percent of adults said they followed major league baseball. In a survey conducted from June 8-11, 1995, 33 percent said they followed the sport.

Among those who said they follow baseball, 71 percent said they were less interested than before the 232-day strike. Twelve percent said they were more interested and 16 percent said their level of interest hadn’t changed.

Acting commissioner Bud Selig said he wasn’t alarmed by the survey.

“I think it’s impossible to react to something like that,” he said Sunday from his office in Milwaukee. “I’m at least encouraged by our attendance today. We had good numbers all over. We’ll see how the trends develop. There’s work to be done and we’ll do it.”

Attendance is down about 20 percent.

Fourteen percent of fans said the Atlanta Braves were their favorite team. The New York Yankees were second at 9 percent followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.

The latest survey was conducted among 1,004 adults.