The Real Reason Baseball Is Back

Six years ago, every serious conversation about baseball was about whether it was dying. The games were too long. The stars were invisible. The fan base was aging out. Now attendance is up three years running, the 2025 World Series drew its biggest audience in eight years, and MLB has bought an equity stake in the YouTube creator it used to sue. What happened? This video maps the full system behind baseball's cultural recovery — and asks the question most coverage is avoiding: how much of this is actually sustainable? Follow Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ https://x.com/Jake_Mintz https://x.com/j_shusterman_ Subscribe for my next video: https://www.youtube.com/@iamjoonlee?sub_confirmation=1 Follow me on social media: Twitter: https://x.com/joonlee IG: https://instagr.am/joon TikTok: https://tiktok.com/joonlee Substack: https://substack.com/@joonlee Business/Sponsors: [email protected] Media Inquiries: [email protected] Bio: Joon Lee is an independent sports journalist reporting on YouTube. He’s written op-eds for The New York Times and The Boston Globe and worked for ESPN, Bleacher Report and The Washington Post, where he’s interviewed and photographed sports & pop culture figures like Kylian Mbappe, Shohei Ohtani, David Ortiz, Mookie Betts and Action Bronson. He previously was a contributor to SportsCenter, Around the Horn and First Take. His work has been featured on The Best American Sportswriting series and recognized as a finalist for the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting.