Even if games go on, MLB lockout could alienate Gen Z

NEW YORK (AP) — Max Scherzer stars in the last video posted to Major League Baseball’s TikTok account before the league locked out the players Thursday morning.

The clip, viewed over 400,000 times, shows the final out from Scherzer's first no-hitter in 2015 with Washington, followed by teammates dousing the three-time Cy Young Award winner with chocolate syrup. Hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd's “Swang” plays in the background.

“Max Scherzer is ... officially a New York Met!!!” the caption reads, celebrating Scherzer's $130 million deal to pitch in Queens.

It could be the last post featuring a big league player sent to the account’s 4.8 million followers for months, a curveball with real consequences for a sport already concerned about courting young fans.

Even if baseball's first work stoppage in 26 years doesn't result in missed games, the league and its players are at risk of alienating their next wave of fans. Gen Z — loosely defined as those born between 1995 and 2010 — has never experience a baseball lockout or strike. Fan sentiment in previous stoppages was driven primarily by interruptions to the schedule, but for a generation that devours bite-sized entertainment faster than its predecessors, there’s potential for lasting damage even if the 2022 regular season starts on time.

For Gen Z, it’s all about the content. Suddenly, on social media, MLB doesn't have any featuring stars like Shohei Ohtani or Fernando Tatis Jr.

“This content machine that is kind of going on all cylinders ... that all probably either stops completely or is not anywhere near as active as it was,” said Mark Beal, an expert on Gen Z and an assistant professor in the Rutgers University School of Communication.

For Gen Z, he says, it's “out of sight, out of mind.”

Raised in an age of ever-present...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Even-if-games-go-on-MLB-lockout-could-alienate-16672806.php