LOS ANGELES — Whether sports fans follow developments in the baseball lockout closely or pay no attention at all, a league with an already diminished fan base has jeopardized at least some of its remaining base because of the work stoppage, according to a Los Angeles Times/SurveyMonkey poll.
In the poll, 6 of 10 Americans said they were not baseball fans. Of those that described themselves as fans, 6 in 10 said the lockout has caused them to lose interest in the baseball season this year.
After baseball’s last labor dispute — a player strike that resulted in the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and a delayed start to the 1995 season — the league’s average per-game attendance did not recover until 2006.
