By Joe Osborne
Amist the start of one of the most anticipated seasons in NBA history and the most drama filled NFL season in recent memory, there was another major sporting event going on, but no one seemed to notice. The Giants wrapped up the World Series last night, and it’s not that no one cared, it’s just that people cared a lot less, and the series was dominated in the headlines by the latest in the NBA and NHL.
The Giants won the World Series in five games, but did anyone really care?
Sunday night’s game four was the first time a World Series game had a lower TV rating than a regular season NFL game, and Monday’s game five clincher was beaten in the ratings by Dancing With the Stars and most of CBS’ Monday night comedy block. Game five’s rating was also 17% less than last years game five between the Yankees and Phillies.
So what gives? Did the lack of interest have much to do with the fact that neither the Giants or Rangers are a team with a major national following? Probably, but there’s more to it than that, as decreased ratings are probably a sign of things to come for Major League Baseball (MLB).
MLB does a horrible job at marketing its stars. It doesn’t have a Lebron James or Peyton Manning, and has nothing close to the individual rivalry of Crosby vs. Ovechkin. While the NBA, NFL and to some degree the NHL have stand-out stars to help sell the game, MLB makes no attempt to mix their superstars into pop-culture and build household names like Shaq or Tom Brady. There were many story lines about players in the World Series that MLB failed to capitalize on; instead focusing its attention on the likes of Nolan Ryan, George W. Bush and Barry Bonds. They should have created promotional campaigns around Tim Lincecum and Josh Hamilton; two of the games most talented and interesting players. Building some hype between one of baseball’s top pitchers taking on one of the best hitters is something that would sell.
The lack of interest might have more to it than MLB’s poor marketing. In the Twitter generation that only needs 140 characters to communicate almost anything, sports fans don’t have the attention span for a 162 games regular season schedule, plus playoffs. By the time the playoffs roll around, people have had their fill of baseball, and are excited for a fresh NFL season and the starts of the NBA and NHL seasons. Baseball is a summer game, and shouldn’t be played well into the cold fall months. A shorter schedule isn’t an option, as owners don’t want to lose money (big shock) on ticket sales and TV contracts, so why not start the season a few weeks earlier to avoid conflict with the other main sports?
Not much can be done to convince people who think baseball is boring that it’s not. But there is lots that can be done to get people interested in the players and the story lines within the game. Major League Baseball is a business, and the objective of any business is to make money, it’s just too bad that the greed of team owners is doing more to hurt the game than it is to help it. The game and fans should always be put before money. A shorter schedule would keep people interested long, keep players off the DL, and would provide more limelight for baseball at its brightest hour. The slow paced sport seems to be fading, and MLB would be smart to be proactive and make some off-field changes before the hardcore fans follow the lead of the casual fans and stop watching all together.
Joe Osborne is a sports and entertainment enthusiast who resides in Halifax, NS. Joe can be reached at osbornejt@hotmail.com or you can visit his blog – What Up Sports.
