Disappointing Trend for MLB - TV Ratings

[hawing]

The series ended on Sunday, also the halfway point of the NFL regular season. That's too long into the NFL.

Cosign on this. I don't think MLB can hope to overcome the NFL's dominance over the country's (remaining) attention span. Even the Wisconsin media (including Milwaukee's) noticeably shift down on baseball coverage as soon as the Packers are doing much of anything.

[adamb100]

The regular season and playoffs are too long. If the series went to 7 games, we'd be playing baseball in November, thats not right. Realistically, the World Series should be over and done with by mid October.

 

Make the regular season 150 games or something, chop the AL/NLCS to a best of 5 instead of 7.

 

Furthermore, with the current post season schedule, there is very little time to build hype for the World Series. The Super Bowl, hype builds up during a week. Super Bowl teams get a week to prepare for the game, but the World Series typically begins 2 or so days after the conclusion of the championship series. I'm not sure how MLB can change this as it would just extend the post season.

[MJLiverock]

I didn't watch a single pitch of the playoffs this year due to a number of personal factors like hating so many of the teams involved (Cardinals, Yankees, Giants, A's) and just a busy family life right now. In past years I would always end up catching some of the game, even watching the Yankees or Cardinals just because it was on. Now with the DVR and backlog of other shows I like available at anytime I found the brief windows of TV time at night spent watching my favorite shows and I was able to FFWD the non stop political ads as well. As a kid I always watched the games but now I have way less time and far more choices thanks to the DVR. Not to mention by season's end I've watched tons of baseball which in years past wasn't as easy prior to nearly every Brewer game being on TV.

[danzig6767]

To be fair a large part of football being so popular is gambling and fantasy. Another major factor is they only play 16 games. If baseball had a much shorter schedule it would get much higher ratings but not be as good a game. Football is the perfect format for ratings, you won't compete with them on that front without completely revamping the game.

 

You're all thinking too hard. People just don't care about baseball. If any New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago is in the World Series next year the ratings will go up just because they have a larger fan base. But really this is all about people not caring about baseball. That powers that be need to just come to accept it and stop trying to do things to "spice up" the playoffs or any other parts of the game

 

You are welcome to your opinion but this is completely false. Over 60 million people attended games in person this year in baseball which will be more than 20 times as many attend an NFL game, they expanded the TV market and the internet market has exploded. Baseball is still right there with football for most popular sport in the US. The long season, slow pace and erratic schedule just doesn't lend itself to playoffs.

 

I agree with you that jerichoholicninja really underrated baseball's popularity given attendance has never been as good as it is right now, but it does suffer as a TV viewing event compared to football for much of the public.

 

Sure the much shorter schedule, gambling, and fantasy football all factor into the ratings monster that football has become, but that's only part of the equation. It doesn't explain though why say a random Monday Night football game between non-high profile teams will still draw in noticeably higher ratings than a World Series game or even some college football games can draw in higher ratings than a baseball playoff game.

 

The sporting public simply loves watching football on TV, regardless if a game involves teams they really like or hate. They don't respond that way to baseball. Where i think the public loves baseball most besides watching their home team on cable is attending games in person. Baseball is such a great sport to attend in person. Most of it's games are played in summer when the weather is good, thus it's nice to attend simply to enjoy a nice day or night outside. The slower pace to the game also is nice when attending in person because people can talk and interact with their friends/family in a relaxed manner. It's very kid friendly. On the flip side though, except for really major baseball fans, it's not as strong of a TV sport, unlike football for much of the public.

[Ennder]

Sure the much shorter schedule, gambling, and fantasy football all factor into the ratings monster that football has become, but that's only part of the equation. It doesn't explain though why say a random Monday Night football game between non-high profile teams will still draw in noticeably higher ratings than a World Series game or even some college football games can draw in higher ratings than a baseball playoff game.

 

Fantasy football, gambling and the fact every single football game matters is why this happens. Baseball is not a TV ratings sport, it just isn't. single games don't matter, fantasy season lasts way too long and the games are too variable to bet on. The playoffs themselves are complete erratic because they aren't played just on weekends etc, they are played at different times every game and the early games in a series just don't matter at all. If you compare the sports by overall viewers/attendence baseball blows the NFL out of the water and it isn't even close, if you compare them by individual games TV ratings the NFL blows MLB out the water and it isn't even close, they are just very different sports.

[danzig6767]

I can only speak for myself, but i've attended about a dozen Packers games and 100 plus Brewers games. While Lambeau Field is a great place to see a football game, as the years have gone by and big HD TV's have come about, in most cases, i'd rather watch Packer games at home on TV than attend games in person. Tickets are expensive, the weather often sucks to spend over three hours sitting through, i like being able to see replays on TV, and i then miss the early or later NFL games during the drive home.

 

Baseball though i love attending in person compared to watching on TV. The weather usually is good and tickets are cheaper. I don't care one bit about missing other MLB games being played that day.

 

One factor you are ignoring is women. Between friends/family, i know lots of women who watch pretty much every Packers games and some will even watch other NFL games. On the flip side, while they might attend a Brewers game here and there for a night out experience, they won't sit at home watching many or any Brewers games on TV. Won't follow the team really close and certainly would never follow other MLB teams. Of course guys are the clear main demographic watching both sports, but the NFL draws in female interest as TV viewers much more than baseball does.

[Ennder]

Also I don't think the baseball going deep into the NFL hurts them anymore now than it used to. Week 5 of the NFL season is just as popular as week 8 so I don't see how that really matters much. There is no way they are going to cut it down to where it finishes before the NFL and you really don't want the playoffs in the first few weeks of the NFL when everyone is all pumped that the season is starting.

[AZBrewCrew]

I like the idea of cutting Spring Training by a week. Most of the players have mentally checked out by then anyway.

[danzig6767]

Also I don't think the baseball going deep into the NFL hurts them anymore now than it used to. Week 5 of the NFL season is just as popular as week 8 so I don't see how that really matters much. There is no way they are going to cut it down to where it finishes before the NFL and you really don't want the playoffs in the first few weeks of the NFL when everyone is all pumped that the season is starting.

 

I don't think there is much of anything that MLB can do about their lagging postseason ratings, it pretty much is what it is for a variety of reasons and no sport can compete with football.

 

That said, baseball is in great shape overall, even with their less than stellar postseason ratings. Attendance is better than it's ever been. Rates for cable TV deals with individual teams are going through the roof. MLB recently signed very lucrative deals with multiple stations. The sport is in great shape financially. Few teams play in a decaying stadium. Labor peace has been great in Selig's tenure, an underrated factor. Besides those financial aspects, the added playoff berths and revenue sharing has given some hope to smaller markets who make good decisions. Sure, the big markets still have a big financial advantage, but smaller markets at least have a better chance today.

[JimH5]

Maybe it's the slow pace, maybe it's the Joe Buck/Tim McCarver broadcast, maybe it was the real lack of compelling LCS teams, whatever, for the first time in many years, I didn't watch an inning of the World Series.

 

I followed the games on my phone and watched next-day highlights, but that was enough.

 

This WS in particular felt like a random interleague series. Delmon Young, Brandon Crawford, Al Albuquerque, Ryan Theriot, Don Kelly, Brandon Belt. . .these guys are World Series players!? Not quite like Kirk Gibson vs. Dennis Eckersley.

[Ennder]

This WS in particular felt like a random interleague series. Delmon Young, Brandon Crawford, Al Albuquerque, Ryan Theriot, Don Kelly, Brandon Belt. . .these guys are World Series players!? Not quite like Kirk Gibson vs. Dennis Eckersley.

 

To be fair there were a ton of scrubs in that world series too. Terry Steinbach, Glenn Hubbard, Walt Weiss, Alfredo Griffin, Jeff Hamilton etc. Outside of game 1 that was a really boring World Series too. Giants vs Tigers was a particularly boring matchup for me as well so I didn't watch much of it either.

[pebadger]

I know I'm completely UN-representative of the world t large, but the thing I love most about baseball is the season itself. I love Opening Day. I love the journey. I love knowing coming home and at the very least having the Brewers on in the background. I want them to make the playoffs and I want them to win when they get there, but just getting there is a better ride than the playoffs themselves.

 

I'm not some baseball-is-the-center of-sports romantic. I'm much more of a football guy in terms of my body of knowledge. I love college hoops from the time it starts all the way through the regular season and then the tournament. But if baseball bastardizes itself in order to chase ratings in the playoffs, they'll lose me to one degree or another. If the season doesn't mean as much to baseball, baseball won't mean as much to me.

[Invader3K]

I like the idea of cutting Spring Training by a week. Most of the players have mentally checked out by then anyway.

 

Yeah, spring training seems to drag on way too long. The players would agree with you.

[RobDeer 45]

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but leads to TV ratings potentially. After going to the Bengals game this weekend and not drinking, I am convinced that Baseball and Basketball are much better places for famlies and kids. I know there are plenty of idiots at baseball games, but it seems that there are way less than at NFL games. Maybe it was the section I was in or maybe it's just a Bengals game thing, or maybe because I was not drinking, but there were so many people that were blacked out and ready to throw up, it was unreal. My wife and I both like to have a good time, but we both were like, what is going on?! (for the record, I rarely have seen a hammered person at a Reds game, and def not anything like the people I saw yesterday).

 

It kind of gave me hope that there is a lot of room for baseball to grow, as they should continue to promote famlies to come to games (and then hopefully they will watch them on TV as well). Again, I know there are plenty of over served people at Baseball games (and I've been one of them) but it's a much better place to bring a kid.

 

I threw this out to my wife, do you think NBA games have the least amount of issues? I haven't been to one in several years, but never remember issues there.

[Patrick425]

I'm usually able to get tickets from work to one Packer game each year (this year our schedule did not match the games that were available). I only go because of my teenage son who loves to go to the games. Otherwise, I would prefer to just stay at home and just watch on TV, mainly due to what RobDeer 45 stated. I swear that Packer games just seem like an excuse for many to drink as many overpriced beers as possible and act like fools.

 

I'll agree that you do not generally see this at Brewer games to the extent you do at Packer games. I'm not a huge NBA fan, and I can't speak for other NBA venues, but we will occasionally get tickets through my wife's for a Buck's game, and yes, I can't say that I have ever seen someone that was overly drunk (or looked drunk at all) at a Bucks game. It just seems to be a completely different atmosphere. Maybe the fact that it's indoors has something to do with it...not sure.

[Baldkin]

I'll agree that you do not generally see this at Brewer games to the extent you do at Packer games. I'm not a huge NBA fan, and I can't speak for other NBA venues, but we will occasionally get tickets through my wife's for a Buck's game, and yes, I can't say that I have ever seen someone that was overly drunk (or looked drunk at all) at a Bucks game. It just seems to be a completely different atmosphere. Maybe the fact that it's indoors has something to do with it...not sure.

 

There's no tailgating at Bucks games. That's about 90% of it. Also, you clearly don't frequent the bleachers and/or the area around Friday's during Brewers games. Plenty of absolutely wasted people are there. They just rarely seem to end up in their seats.

[RobDeer 45]

Great point Baldkin, that is a majority of it. I believe it being indoors maybe leads to a lot more "business people" going to the games too maybe? Not that they can't get juiced up too, but maybe do a better job of not being as aggressive about it.