On Wednesday, the Rays and Phillies concluded a tense, fundamentally sound, and ultimately unique World Series, in which the Phillies returned a championship to a long-suffering sports city.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody watched.\u00c2\u00a0 To be perfectly honest, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t either.\u00c2\u00a0 I tuned in for snippets of the games.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of the time, I caught the first couple of innings before getting sidetracked by a DVRed episode of Heroes or Mad Men and then falling asleep.\u00c2\u00a0 Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the big issue.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a baseball junkie that writes for a baseball website.\u00c2\u00a0 If the Nationals play the Pirates on a Sunday evening in early June, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m probably watching the ESPN telecast.\u00c2\u00a0 However, in a series where traditional and crisply-played baseball seemed to be the focus, without a significant rooting interest or storyline, Major League baseball lost my viewership along with most of America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.\u00c2\u00a0 According to the Nielsen ratings system, the 2008 World Series averaged an 8.4 rating and a share of 14.*\u00c2\u00a0 Last year, as the Red Sox won their second title since the turn of the century, Fox reported ratings of 10.7.<\/p>\n
Can we attribute this decline of 21% strictly to the absence of a team from a big market?\u00c2\u00a0 Looking at the recent NBA Finals on ABC, the difference in ratings between series with big market teams and those without is stunning.\u00c2\u00a0 This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finals between the Lakers and Celtics did a 9.3, whereas in the previous year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s battle between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs, ABC received a record-low rating of 6.2.\u00c2\u00a0 Returning to baseball, in 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers matched up and averaged a 10.1, which was then the record low.\u00c2\u00a0 Thus, the Rays and Phillies came in 17% lower than the previous rock-bottom numbers.\u00c2\u00a0 In the era of Tivo, Hulu, iTunes, DVD, and DVR, live sporting events remain some of the only must-see TV.\u00c2\u00a0 So the big questions are: What was it about this series that turned off casual fans and seamheads alike, and can we fix them?<\/p>\n
Problem #1: <\/strong>The Fox broadcast<\/p>\n Maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the announcers, maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the fact that the radar gun explodes into flames every time a pitcher throws over 95, maybe I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t handle all the strategically placed celebrities (Did you know Ben Affleck was a Red Sox fan?), but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something about the way that Fox broadcasts a game that just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work for me.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseball is a game of subtlety, nuance, strategy, and big moments of explosive action and emotion.\u00c2\u00a0 All too often, Joe Buck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inflection doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t match the intensity of the moment.\u00c2\u00a0 Similarly, Tim McCarver spends more time looking to fill dead air with silly anecdotes and poorly explained scouting reports sponsored by Axe deodorant than he does analyzing the current situation.\u00c2\u00a0 During moments that should draw a fan in to the emotion and intensity of each pitch, Buck and McCarver throw out a quick plug for House or a Burger King \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hot Zone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and push me away.\u00c2\u00a0 Ultimately, it just seems that Fox and its constituents have all grown too comfortable in their gig.\u00c2\u00a0 The network uses baseball as a giant commercial instead of allowing the beauty of the game to shine through.<\/p>\n The Solution:<\/strong> Have a Survivor-style competition where all interested networks compete for the rights to the World Series.\u00c2\u00a0 Throughout the season, each major network would have an opportunity to call a nationally televised series.\u00c2\u00a0 We could choose big rivalries, such as Yankees-Red Sox or Cubs-Cardinals.\u00c2\u00a0 The networks would then have to put together a pre-game panel, an in-game announcing crew, and their graphics.\u00c2\u00a0 If America switched to\u00c2\u00a0Dancing with the Stars\u00c2\u00a0in the third inning, when Chip Caray threw it down to the field with Craig Sager and his ridiculous toupee and horrible paisley tie, it would be the equivalent of the network getting voted off the island.\u00c2\u00a0 That way, the fans would ultimately choose who would cover the World Series.\u00c2\u00a0 My vote would go to USA and its announcing team of Jim Ross and Jerry \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The King\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lawler.\u00c2\u00a0 Hulk Hogan could be the special guest umpire.<\/p>\n Problem #2: <\/strong>The late start times<\/p>\n Fox forces the games to start at 8:29 PM Eastern-time to encourage west-coast viewership.\u00c2\u00a0 The thought is that those people just returning home from work will be able to turn on the TV and tune into a game in the second or third inning, not having missed much.\u00c2\u00a0 The reality is that most people on the west coast could care less about sports unless their teams are playing.\u00c2\u00a0 LA barely tuned in when the Lakers made the Finals last year.\u00c2\u00a0 The majority of the population resides in the Eastern Time zone, where a World Series game typically ends after midnight.\u00c2\u00a0 As evidenced by the fact that the final innings of the suspended game 5 earned an 11.1 rating and 18 share, fans are more likely to watch a game in which they know they will see the conclusion.<\/p>\n Would you read the Harry Potter series if you knew that every time you reached page 350 you had to move on to the next book?\u00c2\u00a0 How about if you were forced to watch The Godfather, but had to turn it off after the death of Vito Corleone?\u00c2\u00a0 Look at how many people were furious with David Chase when the Sopranos went black in its final episode.<\/p>\n The Solution: <\/strong>Simple, start the games at 7 PM EST.\u00c2\u00a0 This way, people on the eastern seaboard will watch the game knowing that, as long as there are no extenuating circumstances, it will most likely only keep them up to 11 or 11:30.\u00c2\u00a0 Similarly, those on the west coast can come home from work, tune into the middle innings and comfortably stay for the conclusion of the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Major League Baseball should take note, Lost had its most successful season after ABC announced that the entire story would come to fruition and a conclusion in 2010.\u00c2\u00a0 People like closure.<\/p>\n Problem #3: <\/strong>TBS played the Steve Harvey Show instead of the first forty-five minutes of Game 7 between the Rays and Red Sox.<\/p>\n Solution:<\/strong> Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t broadcast the Steve Harvey Show.\u00c2\u00a0 Ever.<\/p>\n Problem #4:<\/strong> The weather<\/p>\n Major League Baseball as a corporation is already attributing the low ratings to the rain-delayed start of Game 3, which did a record low 6.1 ratings, and the rain-suspended Game 5, which did a 9.6 as a whole.\u00c2\u00a0 However, the difficulties with the weather that will forever define this series are mere symptoms.\u00c2\u00a0 The real issue lies in the network and money-driven extension of the playoffs.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to schedule big games on days and at times that will produce the most viewers and increase the value of commercial air-time, the league has built an increasing number of off-days into the postseason schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 When the Wild Card was introduced in 1995, the ALDS between the Yankees and Mariners went all five games, the ALCS between the Mariners and Indians as well as the politically incorrect World Series between the Braves and Indians went six of a possible seven games.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, the season still ended on October 28th<\/sup>.\u00c2\u00a0 This year, only the ALCS between the Red Sox and Rays went the full seven games, and yet the season ended later, on October 29th<\/sup>.\u00c2\u00a0 Had the Rays extended the World Series to its full complement of games, the season would have concluded in November.\u00c2\u00a0 Next season, a potential World Series Game 7 would occur on November 5th<\/sup>.\u00c2\u00a0 In most areas, the weather in early November is not baseball weather.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the addition of these unnecessary off-days robs baseball of what makes its regular season so unique.\u00c2\u00a0 During the 162 games, teams play, for the most part, every day.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseball rewards consistency and depth over streaks and stars.\u00c2\u00a0 If every member of a team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 25 man roster does not effectively contribute at some point, forget the World Series, that team will not make it to the playoffs.\u00c2\u00a0 However, once a team reaches the postseason, baseball provides days to rest and recover that never existed in the past.\u00c2\u00a0 As a result, managers can avoid using a struggling pitcher or a slumping hitter.\u00c2\u00a0 Where an ace would return in a deciding Game 7 on three days rest, he now may start on his typical fifth day.\u00c2\u00a0 We seamheads see a different game in October than we do between the months of April and September.<\/p>\n In that regard, postseason baseball is a lot like Die Hard with a Vengeance.\u00c2\u00a0 The first Die Hard was amazing.\u00c2\u00a0 Beyond the great action, Alan Rickman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smooth yet disconcerting performance as Hans, and the shocking appearance of Reginald VelJohnson (Carl Winslow from Family Matters) as John McClane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (Bruce Willis) only contact to the outside world, what set the movie apart from other shoot-em-up cop flicks was the fact that it was entirely set in one building.\u00c2\u00a0 The claustrophobia of big action occurring in such a comparably tiny space provided the movie with an atmosphere that has been imitated for years now.\u00c2\u00a0 However, by the time the third Die Hard came out (1995\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Die Hard with a Vengeance), the producers had shifted the focus of the movie.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of relying on the anxiety created by confining the characters, action, and audience to a single space, Die Hard 3 spanned the entirety of New York City.\u00c2\u00a0 With the additions of Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson, it was an incredibly enjoyable action movie.\u00c2\u00a0 It just wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a Die Hard movie anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s World Series was the equivalent of Live Free or Die Harder, where most people saw the trailer and decided to wait until the movie appeared on HBO to watch it.<\/p>\n The Solution:<\/strong> Peter Gammons recently mentioned the idea of playing the World Series at a neutral site.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure where I stand on this issue.\u00c2\u00a0 On the one hand, much of baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mystique has been tied to its stadiums and the varying environments each provide.\u00c2\u00a0 No matter the rabidity of a team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fans, a neutral site could never reproduce the fervor of a raucous Chicago crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 Nevertheless, there is something to be said for creating a site that could be considered the Mecca of Major League Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 The NCAA makes Omaha work so well that the mere mention of the city brings to mind images of the College World Series.\u00c2\u00a0 By removing travel days, the World Series would play out over seven straight days.\u00c2\u00a0 People would travel from all over the country to watch a baseball game or two.\u00c2\u00a0 It would be an incredible atmosphere reminiscent of the festivals of Ancient Rome.\u00c2\u00a0 It might be just what the game needs.\u00c2\u00a0 If Major League Baseball could convince Kevin Costner to single-handedly build the field and could introduce this site at a press conference where James Earl Jones gave his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People will come\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d speech from Field of Dreams, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be the first in line at the box office.<\/p>\n * The national rating is the percentage of Americans with televisions watching the program, and the market share is the percentage of Americans with televisions on at the time that tuned into the broadcast.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Wednesday, the Rays and Phillies concluded a tense, fundamentally sound, and ultimately unique World Series, in which the Phillies returned a championship to a long-suffering sports city.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody watched.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}