OPINION By Kalvin Tragethon

  Since the early 1930’s, the all-star games in all major league sports have been of most importance for the promotion of the individual sports. The leagues have even gone as far as making a weekend out of game, having skills competitions prior to the event itself. But, recent data shows that the numbers of all-star games in almost every sport continue to decline. 

  In the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2023 all-star game, viewership was down 27% from the 2022 edition of the game. For the National Football League (NFL), the 2023 pro-bowl saw a 7.5% decrease in viewership from the 2022 edition of the game. For Major League Baseball’s (MLB) sake, the 2022 version of the game reached an all-time low in viewership with 7,634,000 viewers. The only outlier that points to all-star games still having value is the National Hockey League (NHL), who saw a shocking 31% increase in viewership which totalled 1.497 million viewers.

  While these decreases in viewership may be perceived as shocking to some, the reasoning behind the great decline in viewership has a few easy conclusions to draw. The all-star games in every sport have become less competitive. Back in the mid 70’s, many leagues, especially the NBA, were still trying to find their footing with the fans. Players in the league understood that in order to expand the games, they had to bring more people in to watch the league. Longtime Detroit  Pistons great and two-time all-star game MVP Iseah Thomas told Vanity Fair that  “There was a partnership between the players and the league and the sponsors to come to this venue, on this day, and put on a great, entertaining show, to give the fans.” Now, in this day and age, the footing of the sport with its world audience has already been established.

  The ability of fans to watch out-of-market games has increased due to the streaming services available for the fans. In the New York Times article entitled “NBC Sports Network Will Shut Down to Bolster Peacock Streaming Services” the article shows streaming services have made it more convenient for people to watch games, “One streaming service can show an infinite number of simultaneous games, making obsolete the main utility of cable sports channels.” These streaming services allow people to watch sporting events from all over the country on any given night, bringing down the fans' intrigue in the All-Star Game event.

  Players nowadays are less willing to risk getting injured in the All-star games due to the massive contracts that they have on the line. This attitude from players is what makes the all-star games an uncompetitive mockery of the traditional game that the fans love.

  All-star games were at one time designed to promote the sports stars and the game itself, but with no need for promotion and little interest shown by the players or the fans, it is time to scrap the all-star game altogether.