Except that it’s not.

AFL and AF2 teams continue to bring in sizable crowds without television and radio hype. That is saying something. Look at the attendance jumps in the “major” sports when TV and radio hype up a Barry Bonds homerun streak; the merchandise sales that result from putting Aikman or Jordan on a pedestal. Arena Football fills arenas with a lot of paying fans who follow the largely pundit-free game without much direction or instruction.

In this day, when fans are lead around by the nose by hours of Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, SportsCenter, and other major sports-opinion outfits, such willful independence can be frustrating to companies solidifying mind share into market share and ad revenue.

ESPN’s Mr. Patrick, one of the most influential opinion makers in sports, interviewed AFL Commissioner Baker a couple of months ago on his morning radio show. He asked Mr. Baker a question, really to be supportive and get out a response to the sentiments of many of his colleagues. [Paraphrased] “Why should we care about Arena Football?”

Perhaps Jake Steinfeld’s three-year-old, six team Major League Lacrosse on ESPN-2 may have to justify its existence. It is a sad sign of the resistance of the mainstream media to open up to other sports when a seventeen year-old football league increasingly owned by the NFL, with its own minor league, has to sing for its supper with radio talk show hosts.

It is ironic when the same talk show pundits, television anchors, and columnists keep lamenting that they spend too much time on Sammy Sosa’s corked bat. They don’t look at how the sports world around them is expanding as their viewpoint continues to contract. You amplify minutiae that only becomes important because all of the lemmings line up and give it the power and credibility of their heavy-hitting brand names.

Just as cable television shattered the entertainment market of the big-three television stations, it is changing sports. Alternate sports, from offerings on golf, fishing, and odd-lot sports on ESPN-2 to the growth of second-tier college sports channels, people are finding more niches to fulfill their sports jones.

The population growth and sophistication of second, third and fourth tier market share cities are changing the sports business. Towns that once had to make due with being the poor cousin of major market teams enjoy live sports at state-of-the art stadiums and arenas in their back yard. Even suburban cities in the shadow of major markets have enjoyed a renaissance of live sports.

In spite of heavy resistance by a media that seemingly would like their lives kept simple with the three majors and college ball, the Arena Football League, Major League Soccer, and minor league sports continue to evolve and grow audiences.

Thousands of people who didn’t know what hockey was ten years ago crowd everything from state-of-the-art arenas in Shreveport to converted cow barns in Austin to watch Canucks and pucks.

While major league sports have been seeing steady declines in attendance at many of their outlets, minor league franchises, with their faceless, admittedly less-talented players, are seeing increases. Why?

People love the games being played. They love watching live sports. In the case of baseball and basketball, they often get to watch the game as it was played in the days before cautious athletes and organizations nursing multi-million dollar payrolls turned the games from competitions where the athlete pushed themselves to the max to games where pitch counts and minutes played “preserve” players for future games.

Fans can also take a family of four to a whole season of games for less than the price of one season ticket, parking, and food at some major league venues. A fact not lost upon major franchises surrounded by a growing number of successful suburban minor league teams.

If you want more to talk about, it’s out there. There are great players in the AFL including a few Quarterbacks with more NFL potential than you may be giving them credit for. There are talented hockey players in the NHL and in the AAA minors of the AHL worthy of some hype. Soccer and even Lacrosse all have good stories to tell. The only thing that keeps them from being told is you.

As sports professionals, you are knowledgeable about your turf. As the turf keeps expanding around you, how do you keep up with everything? Keeping a sharp eye on the majors and college is a lot of work. Figuring out that Beckham is a world-class soccer player worthy of your attention, and not a suburb of London, might take some additional work.

It is worth the effort. Stealing from THX, the audience really is listening. Would AFL fans be delighted to hear an interview with Orlando QB Jay Gruden that respected his sport and didn’t just ask him what it’s like to be Chucky’s brother around Super Bowl time? Would people respond to a hyped Arena Bowl? You bet.

There is life in sports outside of New York, Chicago and L.A., and the big three/college/golf circuit.