- When sports do their major events has shifted in the last decades or so
- There's no longer a common TV culture.
That last point started more with Cable TV, but everyone still got 'over the air' so coverage on major TV networks usually provided a foundation of shared culture and events. It also provided major news summaries that most busy adults managed to see a bit of. As if any of us with jobs have time for that these days.
There's also the war for everyone's attention on "Social Media" and the Internet generally.
Context: I'm an adult fan of baseball that didn't like sports at all as a kid, so I developed no team loyalty. I'm all about good, exciting baseball whoever wins.
Since this is baseball, I might as well provide the other stats I just pulled up as that's very much in the spirit of the game:
21 teams have won more than once: Yankees (27), Cardinals (11), Athletics (9), Red Sox (9), Dodgers (9), Giants (8), Pirates (5), Reds (5), Tigers (4), Braves (4), Cubs (3), White Sox (3), Twins (3), Orioles (3), Phillies (2), Guardians (2), Mets (2), Royals (2), Blue Jays (2), Marlins (2), Astros (2)
5 teams have one exactly once: Angels, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Rangers, Brewers
The Mariners are the only team to never have even played in the Series.
It's been 78 years since Cleveland last won. Followed by Pittsburgh (47), Baltimore (43) and Detroit (42), not counting the two teams that have never won above.
The longest gaps between series wins are the Cubs at 107 years (1908-2016), White Sox at 87 years (1917-2005) and Red Sox at 85 years (1918-2004).
And in case you're unaware, the first World Series was played in 1903.
That's 124 total scheduled championship seasons (1903 through 2026), minus 2 canceled seasons (1904 boycott and 1994 strike) for a total of 122 World Series.