[vincesanity82]

Executives with Major League Baseball are riding high after arguably the most compelling September in history. How high? How about take-on-the-NFL high?
"I probably shouldn't say this," one highly placed MLB executive said last week. "There was a time when I wouldn't even think it. But I think we're going to see a time in the future, the near future, when we are going to pass the NFL in producing revenue."

That thought would have seemed preposterous a decade ago. But Commissioner Bud Selig didn't laugh when the possibility was presented during a discussion.

"By any measure you want to look at, our sport is more popular now than it has ever been," Selig said. "The country really is baseball-crazy today, no question."

The 30 major-league franchises combined to draw 79.5 million fans, averaging 32,785 per game. The overall attendance increased 4.5 percent over the record 2006 totals. Local, cable and network ratings are also on the rise.

"The sport is exploding," Selig said.

The final revenue figures for 2007 still are being calculated, but Selig said the projection is $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion. The NFL produced $5.7 billion in revenue in 2005 and is expected to rise to about $6.3 billion this year. MLB definitely is closing what was once a huge gap.

MLB cash cow breaking away on ChicagoSports.com

[EmpireWF]

I don't know about TV ratings but people are certainly going the parks in record numbers. Baseball was never more profitable than it is now.