Baseball Ratings Stink. Should We Care?
1-liner, Baseball October 7th. 2008, 4:15pmMLB Ratings Plummet: The NYT says baseball ratings are down 20 percent from a year ago. Imagine if the Brewers had advanced! MLB has foolishly set things up, if you ask us – at least three (all four?) games in the Boston-Anaheim series (two huge markets!) ended after midnight EST. Sorry, Tampa fans, but there’s no way MLB will let the Red Sox lose. Be prepared to bitch about balls and strikes and tight plays at first base.
36 Responses to “Baseball Ratings Stink. Should We Care?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:17 PM
terrelle pryor > boston and tampa
October 7th, 2008 at 4:19 PM
Cue Boston vs LA in 3…2…1…
October 7th, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Sorry, Tampa fans, but there’s no way MLB will let the Red Sox lose
who said the Rays had fans?
/TBL commenters
October 7th, 2008 at 4:22 PM
No
October 7th, 2008 at 4:22 PM
It worked so well for the NBA I’m sure MLB is going to give it a try.
/let’s dumb things down further
October 7th, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Sorry, Tampa fans, but there’s no way MLB will let the Red Sox lose. Be prepared to bitch about balls and strikes and tight plays at first base.
This means Tampa is going to win.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Charles Barkley said it best on the dan patrick show, “These are the same people that allow the winner of the all star game determine home field advantage in the world series”
October 7th, 2008 at 4:26 PM
umpires won’t do this shit because if they do, the managers will come out and kick dirt on them.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:26 PM
Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one?
October 7th, 2008 at 4:27 PM
Yeah, and the scheduling geniuses that are waiting until Thursday to start a series that’s been determined since Sunday.
And Bud Selig wonder’s why everyone thinks he is a total tool.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Sorry, Tampa fans, but there’s no way MLB will let the Red Sox lose. They’d much rather conspire to commit fraud and risk going to prison for a very long time.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Ozzie bitched and it didn’t do jack for him.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I’m sure MLB has control over a game that goes 12 innings and what time are they supposed to start the game in Anaheim to make East coasters happy? 4 PST? There will be nobody at the stadium.
Also no one in Los Angeles cares about the Angels. Maybe Orange County does but LA is Dodger town.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:30 PM
“The NYT says baseball ratings are down 20 percent from a year ago. ”
Somehow, somewhere, Dane Cook is taking this news as validation.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:31 PM
If MLB truly doesn’t want Tampa Bay in the World Series, that’s a rather short-sighted business philosophy if you ask me. What good does it do to promote the growth of your product if the same popular team wins every year?
October 7th, 2008 at 4:33 PM
You are sure the Umps are not going to let the Rays win? What are you fucking talking about? Seriously? If that was the case the Cubs would have won? How about the White Sox too? That is completely asinine to say. Baseball has had no history of this. First you lend credence to the thoughts of a 17 year old and now this. Really dude? Really?
October 7th, 2008 at 4:33 PM
when did it work well for the NBA?
it’s not about making people happy, it’s ultimately about $$$$. Perhaps they figured the ad sales for red sox games would be higher, but didn’t take into account the fact that ratings would be down. Don’t you think more people would be talking about that play at 3rd base last night if the game started at 7?
October 7th, 2008 at 4:34 PM
They’ve always been shortsighted. The post-midnight endings have always happened, even when two east teams go at it. Bos/Clev last year, for example.
They’re not letting kids get hooked to baseball, which is cutting oout future fans.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:35 PM
Happy St, take the baseball posts with a grain of salt.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:35 PM
I’d like to see the NYT do an article on the plummeting sales of the NYT.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:36 PM
yanks not in playoffs, ratings down. hmmmm.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:37 PM
Good point. I always forget. And the NFL power rankings too, right? And the two-a-days. And the media critique’s. Basically everything except soccer, which I don’t understand anyway.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:38 PM
it’s not about making people happy, it’s ultimately about $$$$.
Exactly why not give another Market a chance to win a championship Boston is going to have their fans regardless why not give a failing market a chance to succeed. Everybody wins.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:40 PM
Working in the ad industry the prime ad sales time is between 8 and 11pm. So starting that game at 8 whatever is perfect for TBS. They get prime time rates on the East Coast and will most likely get advertisers to pay top dollar on the wast coast also.
You think TBS cares about the ratings right now? They’ve made their money on the series already. Sure they may have to make up the rating points later, but it’s waaaaayyy easier to do that on cable (more inventory) then it is on broadcast. They may get burned next year, but they’re fine right now.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:47 PM
hey, NickP, your Canadian is showing.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:51 PM
+1
October 7th, 2008 at 4:52 PM
i’m sure MLB is happy with the extra revenue brought in from all the official player off gear for teams like the Brewers and Rays. everywhere i went all week, people were wearing Brewers Wild Card 2008 shit. it was pretty cool.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:55 PM
That’ll look nice in their closet in a couple years hanging up next to their Milwaukee Bucks 2001 Eastern Conference runners-up t-shirt.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:56 PM
gear supporting your team is gear supporting your team. it’s not like you can’t wear that stuff to a game next season.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:57 PM
That’s true. I still wear my Chicago Bulls hat that says “72-10 don’t mean a thing without the ring”.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:05 PM
funny
i’m surprised more of you dont think the rays in the WS would be bad for baseball. this is an argument that happens all across sports. each league benefits greatly from having marquee teams with passionate followings in the world series.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:12 PM
they may want, but i don’t buy into the conspiracy theory. The Dodgers and Phillies are in big markets anyway.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:13 PM
TBL, i think people agree with that (at least i do) but i also think it’s idiotic to think MLB is going to tell the umps to squeeze the strike zone for them and blow calls at first. if the Rays play better, they’ll move on.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:33 PM
of course it is idiotic to think that MLB is going to tell the umps to squeeze the strike zone and blow calls at first. just as nobody would tell a referee in the NFL to throw more flags or an NBA official to freeze an envelope.
come on, man, do you know the ramifications if somebody in the league actually SAID that? we’d have an MMA situation on our hands.
http://thebiglead.com/?p=8176
the unspoken is much, more powerful.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Conspiracies are bullshit. If that was the case, the Mets would’ve been in the ‘06 Series instead of the Cardinals, and the umpire would’ve called Adam Wainwright’s last pitch to Beltran a ball.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Wait…wasn’t it smart to have the Red Sox/Angels games on at 8p EST?