In terms of popularity and appeal, there is little dispute that major league baseball ranks a distant third to the NFL and NBA. Now, not being much of a baseball fan, there are some obvious fixes that appeal to a casual fan like me which could draw many more casual fans to the game.
There are four obvious major dates during baseball season ... Opening Day, Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. First, as to Opening Day, make it uniform every year, that is, the first Sunday in April, the day before the NCAA college basketball championship game is played. All games played in the US. All games played that day starting on the east coast and rolling to the Left Coast. The night before, teams can host a Welcome Back to Baseball Gala, fireworks at the parks, black tie event for the monied people, a larger gala for the great unwashed at the park.
Then, on those 4 major dates, you have a designated rival to play on every occasion with home venues alternating. For example, Yankees and BoSox play at Fenway Opening Day, Yankee Stadium Memorial Day, etc. Rangers-Astros, Cubs-Cardinals, etc. Not only would this make Opening day and each holiday during the season more significant, it would elevate the rivalries that much more. As is, it is all over the board. For example, on Opening day in 2014 the Rangers played .... the Phillies. Really? One of the biggest days of the season and you are playing a team with whom you have no history. Really?
Oh, and home team in the World Series depends on the All Star game? Really? Dumb. How about this ... if the two teams played head to head during the season, the team with the winning record is the home team. If they did not play, the team with the better record in inter-league play is the home team. If that is the same, the team with the better record is the home team.
So many smaller things that could be done but these are the major things that may attract the very casual fan like me. Thoughts?