"You have superstars, especially Shohei Ohtani" - Red Sox star addresses Cam Newton's controversial "baseball is a dying sport" take

Former NFL quarterback Cam Newton made a bold claim that "baseball is a dying sport," eliciting a reaction from Boston Red Sox ace Lucas Giolito.

Newton, a 35-year-old former NFL star, made the statement in his podcast "4th & 1", which has gained plenty of attention on social media. When asked for his opinion on the subject in the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast, Giolito said:

"You're just trying to get a bunch of people riled up in clicks. I mean, that's like the game now, you wanna get your sound byte, you wanna get your likes and your clicks and your comments. I don't think that's a real statement. I think that's someone that's talking that doesn't really know what's going on in that world. Like, I'm not gonna make any comments about football to Cam Newton, because he knows football a thousand percent better than I do. So I just disregard that.

"I think the popularity of baseball is relatively stable right now. You have some superstars, especially Shohei Ohtani I mean, just so dynamic. Yeah, I think we're in a pretty good place, not gonna lie. The thing is, baseball is a very intricate sport so I think that most baseball fans grew up with it, they understand the game. For like a random person to just watch a baseball game for the first time, they're gonna be like, 'What's going on?'"

He concluded:

"I think that making it more accessible in today's day and age of streaming and the internet is hugely important. The TV deals and everything, those are becoming kind of becoming very archaic.

"It doesn't really make too much sense any more. I'm hoping that the leagues and the media companies can figure out a better way in today's day and age but that's just for accessibility. You wanna make it as accessible as possible."

Cam Newton started his football career in college at the University of Florida, where he became the star of the team. He was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft and became a central figure.

In 2015, he won the NFL MVP award after guiding the Panthers to the Super Bowl. He retired in 2021 and has since started his podcast called 4th & 1.

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Pirates slugger Andrew McCutchen responds to Cam Newton's claim on the future of baseball

When former NFL star Cam Newton claimed that baseball is a dying sport which will be surpassed by the WNBA in 20 years, it produced a lot of traction on the internet.

Among the many people to respond to the claim was Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who wrote:

"He talks about baseball like a person who has never been around baseball talks about baseball."

It's clear that many MLB players and fans disagree with Newton, but only time will tell where the sport reaches in 20 years.