Love him or hate him…
ESPN’s Jayson Stark did a very fascinating survey to determine who the true ‘face’ of MLB is. The results are hilarious, and sure to make Bud Selig cry at night.
The survey was first conducted back in July and the results are now in.
When asked ‘which MLB player would you define as the ‘face of baseball’ today?’ 22% of the 1,028 people surveyed said A-rod, no hesitation.
An important factor to bear in mind is that the survey was conducted at a time when A-Rod was all over the news, so it makes sense that more people chose him off the bat.
But interestingly enough, the survey also showed that those who lived further away from MLB stadiums seemed to choose A-Rod even more. Only 17 percent of fans who live within 20 miles of a MLB stadium picked A-rod, whereas 25 percent of those who live more than 100 miles away picked A-rod.
Essentially what was proven is that those who aren’t avid baseball watchers are more influenced by the off the field matters and thus attach a face to the brand. In other words, more non baseball fans know more about A-Rod than they do Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols and yes, even Derek Jeter. Sad stuff.
One could make the argument that A-Rod, for all his drama has never been more popular. Crazy.