Trivia question: When was the last afternoon game in a World Series?
Answer: Game 6 of the Minnesota-St. Louis World Series in 1987.
I get the idea for having night games in the World Series during the week and even on Sunday, a prime TV viewing night. However, nobody stays home on Saturday night to watch TV.
Indeed, a late Saturday afternoon game would be a prime opportunity to capture some of those younger viewers, especially on the East Coast, for whom the World Series has become a rumor. The 8:07 ET first pitch for all the games means most of them are in bed by the fourth inning.
Check out this tweet from the TV Sports Ratings guy:
Baseball is losing a generation of young fans, who likely won’t grow up to become old fans, by playing all these World Series games at night.
I would bet that the ratings for a late afternoon Saturday World Series game would be comparable to an 8:07 ET start. Even if they were off slightly, so what? Consider it an investment in the game’s future.
Time to let the sun shine, baseball. At least for one game.
Update: It has been pointed out to me that Game 3 of the 2010 World Series started at 6:57 ET, the earliest since 1987. MLB actually made a big deal of it.
“I am extremely pleased we are able to provide our fans the earliest World Series start time since 1987 with Saturday’s Game Three,'” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “The changes we made with FOX last year to start the World Series games earlier helped increase viewership including more young fans and we are optimistic that the earlier start time for Saturday’s Game Three will keep us moving in the same direction.”
Key to the earlier scheduled start time for Game Three is an additional level of advertising support from Chevrolet, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball, and a perennial sponsor of MLB on FOX.
“Starting the game earlier will allow more families to watch together,” said Chris Perry, vice president U.S. marketing, Chevrolet. “This fits perfectly with our commitment to baseball which stretches from youth teams across the country to MLB.”
“We’ve said over the years that if advertisers were willing to support earlier starts at prime time levels, we’d be able to begin games earlier,” said FOX Sports president Eric Shanks. “We’re excited to be working with MLB and Chevrolet, along with our FOX-owned stations and affiliates to make this happen.”
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Hmm. Wonder why baseball abandoned the concept?
Because the advertisers and MLB have diverging interests. Advertisers want revenue right now. MLB…oh wait, same thing. Both are willing to cut off their respective noses to spite themselves. Nobody in power or control right now will still be around for baseball’s funeral while all of today’s kids are watching other sports in 20 years.
Baseball could step up and do what’s best for the game. Shouldn’t be all about chasing dollars.
I agree completely with this. Additionally, weeknight games should start at least by 6:30 Central/7:30 Eastern if not earlier. The games are going until 11 Central/Midnight Eastern which are tough for even seasoned fans to finish.
Great post, which will be ignored again by Fox and MLB. Can’t wait for the ratings to come in for the median age of the viewer for Game 2 of the 2027 World Series. I’ve got it at 68.5!