I’ve had a theory about Major League Baseball telecasts for
a while. The theory states that every single time the New York Yankees and
Boston Red Sox, likely the most storied rivalry in the history of the game (and
sports in general), play each other the game will be nationally televised.
I’ve long theorized that every single Yankees vs. Red Sox
game in at least the last decade has likely been televised. Unfortunately, I
have no way of finding out whether or not this is indeed a fact. What games
have appeared on which networks over the last few seasons is not something you
can easily find anywhere, probably because few people honestly give a damn.
However, for the last few seasons I’ve heard a good many
people give a damn. These people are, of course, not fans of the Yankees or Red
Sox as those fans (and there’s a good many of them sprinkled throughout the
entire United States) seem thrilled that many of their favorite team’s games
(and every time they play their heated rival) are broadcast nationally. It’s
not hard to be a Yankees or Red Sox fan in say Arkansas (where I’m from)
because you know your favorite team will have as many as a third of their games
all season broadcast. But, if you’re a fan of say the Cleveland Indians or
Oakland A’s or Milwaukee Brewers in Arkansas or Nebraska or West Virginia you’re
going to have trouble ever seeing your favorite team on television unless you
want to shell out major bucks for the baseball television package or MLB.tv
online (which many people simply cannot afford). This is a feeling that sucks
for a good many a baseball fan in this country, especially when they keep
getting the same old teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and other teams like the
St. Louis Cardinals crammed down their throats.
There are four networks that currently air MLB games
nationally: ESPN, Fox (games are regional, but there’s a small enough selection
(unlike say NFL on Fox/CBS) to really matter), TBS and MLB Network – all of
these networks are shown on most cable or satellite providers. Almost every day
of the week there will be at least one nationally televised baseball game. That’s
actually a lot of baseball available to baseball fans around the country, but
if you’re not a fan of the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, etc. it can become
pretty fatiguing. This is why every Yankees vs. Red Sox game being broadcast
nationally can become irritating to non-fans of those teams.
Let’s get this obvious point out of the way. Yes, it makes
complete sense for networks to want to show as many Yankees vs. Red Sox games
as they can (and those two teams individual games along with Cardinals games)
because these fanbases are the largest (and by a good margin) in the country
and the network wants viewers, ratings and the advertising dollars that come
from them. Baseball, unlike the NFL and NBA, is not a sport that is watched all
that much anymore by the casual sports fan. If you’re a Cardinals fan how often
would you watch a game involving a team other than the Cardinals in the regular
season? Probably, not very often, especially if you have a busy life. This is
partially why the networks search for the big fanbases for their games, because
a Yankees or Red Sox or Cardinals game will pull in fans from all around the
country, whereas a Pittsburgh Pirates or Colorado Rockies game likely would
not.
It makes a lot of sense why networks do this, but it also
comes off as bothersome to baseball fans because there are a lot of nationally
televised games to go around and there are also a lot of other good baseball
teams in the country than just the few that are constantly shown on television.
I don’t have the numbers of televised games for the entire
2013 MLB season, because I unfortunately only thought to keep a tally of
nationally televised games for the second half of the season. The second half
of a baseball season’s nationally televised games are more likely to be skewed
than the first half of the season by team records and the playoff hunt, which
would’ve made an entire season sample slightly better than just the second half
sample. For example, the incredibly hyped before the season Toronto Blue Jays
probably had a handful of first half nationally televised games, but didn’t
have a single nationally televised game during the second half of the season.
In fact, the Blue Jays were one of only four MLB teams to not have a single
nationally televised game during the season’s second half with the other three
teams understandably being the Houston Astros, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee
Brewers – all teams with losing records and few, if any, bankable stars.
The team with the most nationally televised baseball games during
the second half of the season was also understandably the best team in baseball
when the season ended, the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox had 31 nationally
televised games during the second half of the season (16 on MLB Network [which
televises many more games a week than the other three networks], eight on ESPN,
four on Fox and three on TBS). The National League leading St. Louis Cardinals
at the season’s end had the second most nationally televised games with 25 (15
on MLB Network, seven on ESPN, two on Fox and one on TBS). The only issue with
these numbers is that the Red Sox were only the best team in baseball,
record-wise, for the last two-to-three weeks of the regular season and the
Cardinals were only the best team in the National League, record-wise, for the
very last day of the regular season.
Which team was the best team in the game, record-wise, for
most of the season’s second half in both the N.L. and baseball as a whole?
The Atlanta Braves.
Despite leading baseball for most of the season, including
the second half of the season, the Braves only appeared on national television
10 times (five times on MLB Network, twice each on ESPN and Fox and once on
TBS). Ten MLB teams appeared on national television more during that span (Red
Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Dodgers, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Pirates, Rangers and
Tigers). The Braves do have a pretty good sized following, mostly from the days
when they were shown exclusively on TBS, but it’s not near of a following the
likes that the Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals have. So, they could be the best
team in baseball, but if they aren’t bringing eyes to the networks the networks
don’t care. It’s a business. It leads to biases. It’s not really right, but
nothing’s ever going to come of it. But, the fans are still going to grow
fatigued and complain. Both sides are understandable.
The New York Yankees, by the way, appeared nationally on
television the third most of any team in the sport during the second half of
the season with 24 appearances (11 times on MLB Network, five times on ESPN and
four times each on Fox and TBS) despite not making the playoffs. You can thank
their national following for that.
That’s right; the Yankees appeared in 14 more nationally
televised games than the Braves. They appeared in more nationally televised
games than seven other 2013 playoff teams, as well. The Yankees were broadcast
nationally seven more times than the Tampa Bay Rays (who appeared on TV more
because they played both the Yankees and Red Sox a lot during the season’s
second half), seven more times than the Cincinnati Reds (who benefited from
many games against the Cardinals), 10 more times than the Pirates (baseball’s
best story of the year), 11 more times than the Dodgers, 12 more times than the
Detroit Tigers, 18 more times than the
Oakland A’s and a whopping 21 more times than the Cleveland Indians.
Sure, many people will be saying those lesser featured teams
need to grow larger fanbases so that they can compete for TV time with the
likes of the Yankees and Red Sox and Cardinals. But, to them I ask the
question: How does a team build a larger fanbase? The answer: appear more times
on national television.
But, now that we’ve seen that the Yankees, Red Sox and
Cardinals ride their large fanbases to more nationally televised games than
other franchises, some with better records/teams, it’s time to go back to my
initial theory. All of those damn Yankees vs. Red Sox matchups are broadcast
nationally aren’t they? Some people haven’t believed me when I’ve said this in
the past, but here’s the proof. During the second half of this MLB season the
Yankees and Red Sox faced each other 10 times … all 10 of those games were
broadcast either on ESPN, Fox, TBS or MLB Network.
Man, it sure must be good to be a Yankees or Red Sox fan. The
rest of us might want to find a job that pays better so we can invest in MLB.tv
or move to a region that shows are favorite teams locally, because that’s the
only way we’re ever going to see them play.
