MLB’s hideous streaming partnerships are filled with arrogant greed

[Halldan1]

MLB’s hideous streaming partnerships are filled with arrogant greed

If you or I were the commissioner of baseball when a greed-driven absence of foresight found MLB bleeding viewers and interest, what would we do?

nypost.com

By Phil Mushnick

Not since the Jersey Nets ran a guns-for-tickets promotion — Don’t miss your chance to sit beside a dangerous felon! — have I been more confused by a marketing strategy.

If you or I were the commissioner of baseball at a time when a greed-driven absence of foresight found MLB bleeding viewers and interest, what would we do?

For starters, we’d do everything in our power to make baseball telecasts available on the most affordable and widely viewed TV networks. No one would have to search for the games, or pay more and more to watch. We’d try to restore baseball as the national pastime, thus every fan, young and old, would know where to go and when.

In local throwback terms, the Mets once could be found on Ch. 9, the Yankees on Ch. 11. Then on SNY and YES. Once, as in three years ago.

We wouldn’t mess with conditioned TV habits because we’d recognize that this is no time to take baseball audiences for granted, no time to sell the telecasts at auction.

But the Rob Manfred regime went the other way, challenging fans to spend more and to search harder if they wanted to watch baseball. Here, the Yankees have become an almost weekly exclusive on the Amazon Prime streaming operation.

Manfred and the Yankees’ shot-callers allowed the team’s games to become the cheese while devoted fans became lab rats in exchange for Amazon dough.

The Yankees-Angels game Wednesday was one of 20 mostly cherry-picked Yankees games this season to be hidden — held for ransom — behind Amazon Prime’s pay wall, thus it was lost, by financial design, to untold but cost-conscious tens of thousands.

Would you have normally watched that game had it been on YES? I would have. But would I buy Amazon Prime in order to watch it? No. I refuse to fund MLB’s arrogant greed.

Another two Yankees games have been lost to Apple TV+ pay streaming, and another to Peacock streaming. Twenty-three games. And more are likely to come.

And with ESPN money changing Sunday afternoons into Sunday nights to exploit the largest TV markets, this has become another of MLB’s institutionalized pimping plans — even if the johns, baseball fans, are on the wane.

Sunday night, Mets at Red Sox on ESPN will be the latest work-the-next-morning endurance test. Sunday night baseball was once out of the question as the worst possible time to schedule games. Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. local starts were the best times.

Now, most Saturday afternoon games begin after 4 p.m. to meet Fox’s financial terms. The Mets have become a Saturday night home team.

Meanwhile, Manfred and the Yankees risk further conditioning of the fan base to live without Yankees telecasts. How much money is it worth to further diminish interest in the Yankees?

When will the Yankees awaken from their greed-stricken insouciance, which already includes thousands of the best seats in the house priced so hideously high that they’ve remained empty since the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009?

Is ingesting hemlock a marketing strategy?

How is this in the best long and short-term interests of baseball and its most fabled team? Why do Manfred’s “marketing plans” include nothing for MLB’s most important business partners — its remaining fans — except the offer to rent hammers with which to beat ourselves unconscious?

To borrow from Ronald Reagan, “Mr. Manfred, tear down this paywall!”

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[Seton75]

Blabber blabber. He is a bore to me. An endless bitch pony. Didn't read him like i didn't read him on the train home from nyc when I had read everything else.

I watched the Mets on channel 11 last night. I was the guys who didn't hit a home run.

 

[TheHall87]

I'm surprised Phil didn't rip MLB for allowing Peacock to air a Sunday morning game (often a 11:30 AM start time) since it would interfere with church worship hours.

Or that today's broadcast is going head-to-head with MLB's Hall of Fame induction.

A true traditionalist would think honoring the game's greats would take precedent over a meaningless interleague game between two sub .500 teams -- and that MLB and its broadcast partner(s) would allow the ceremony to air uncontested by another baseball broadcast.

 

[Burnsly]

I'm was a pretty decent baseball fan until recently & I have no idea who is even being inducted today. Interest has definitely cooled off..... & Manfred is front & center why. If it wasn't for my fantasy league, I'd probably have no interest at all.

 

[Seton75]

I watch games. They are faster this yr. That is good. Teams get sold and the owners make a fortune. The players are richer than rich. Too many sub 250 hitters in the middle of the lineups for me. Complete games should not be a big event. Baseball still a big part of my summer. Love mlb games. Hearing other teams announcers. Not sure if i could pick the baseball czar out of a lineup. I remember a poster above said his name. Starts with Man... we used to have a nazi sympathizer as olympic czar. But the athletes were still awesome.

 

[SHUHitman]

This "fast games are better to watch" narrative may hold up when you are at home, but I don't see it as an advantage when at the park. The rapid pace through the innings has not resulted in a cheaper ticket, nor has it reduced the wait time at concessions or the restroom. Too much gameplay is missed simply because you want to hit the head and grab something to eat. And if you have kids and require multiple trips up....you legitimately miss half of the game now.

 

[JRSlim2284]

Since I was about 10 years old, I've seen Mushnick's name in the Post. Attempt to read for 60 seconds and automatically come to the conclusion...

 

[Seton75]

This "fast games are better to watch" narrative may hold up when you are at home, but I don't see it as an advantage when at the park. The rapid pace through the innings has not resulted in a cheaper ticket, nor has it reduced the wait time at concessions or the restroom. Too much gameplay is missed simply because you want to hit the head and grab something to eat. And if you have kids and require multiple trips up....you legitimately miss half of the game now.

The games are faster. We complained forever about it. I never heard someone jump into the discussion and say yeah but since they are longer you miss less of the game waiting in lines once you are in the stadium. And why should ticket prices be lowered cause the games are faster and why would it reduce waiting times? Who thought that would happen? And cause they are faster there is less time for concession sales.

I missed about 2 plus innings in the 76 playoffs getting some beers.

 

[The Crows Nest]

I have to agree with him on this. I’m not chasing down different streaming channels to find the Yankee game. I’ll Just not watch.

They make it a PIA to simply find the game…

 

[CT Pirate]

Amazing how things go around and come around. Having grown up in the 60's where few if any games were on. (Thank goodness I lived beyond the 60 mile blackout limit and was able to watch Giants football) It is like going back in time where games aren't on the "air" - either cable or streaming. I have just adapted and don't try to seek out the games - like NFL on Amazon. Just too hard and not enough passion. I'll never be the grumpy old man like Mushnick but it is increasingly harder to find games. Make it hard on someone and they just say Uncle. Now if it the Setonia games - I'll hunt them down. All about passion.

 

[Halldan1]

I have a TV app that connects you to the games. Some for free, others on pay sites.

I just do not watch as many sporting events as I did when I was younger. And there is no way I'm paying beyond what I already do for TV.

If I have interest in the games I just watch the highlights on the same app after the game.

 

[SHUHitman]

The games are faster. We complained forever about it. I never heard someone jump into the discussion and say yeah but since they are longer you miss less of the game waiting in lines once you are in the stadium. And why should ticket prices be lowered cause the games are faster and why would it reduce waiting times? Who thought that would happen? And cause they are faster there is less time for concession sales.

I missed about 2 plus innings in the 76 playoffs getting some beers.

I mean, I don't really care if someone complained about it before not (and for the record, I was not in favor of speeding up the game), it has been an unintended consequence of the change and it has not been a positive one. People pay SIGNIFICANTLY more for a ticket today than they did in the 1976 playoff game that you chose to reference.

My position on this was, is, and will continue to remain the same. I actually like spending the afternoon or evening at the ballpark. If they want to increase the pace of the gameplay, that's fine. Perhaps they should consider lengthening the time between half innings or innings then, so patrons can actually use the restroom, purchase food, get their kid something from the gift shop, etc without missing a chunk of the game.

 

[radecicco]

I’m watching more games now. It’s good knowing that if a game starts at 7:10, it will be over by 9:45 as opposed to 10:30-11. Pitchers walking around the mound, endless throws to first base, hitters stepping out and scratching, changing pitchers after every batter in the late innings? Thank goodness much of those antics are gone.

 

[SPK145]

The usual Mushnick rant but why just pick on baseball, all sports are going this way.

 

[TheHall87]

This "fast games are better to watch" narrative may hold up when you are at home, but I don't see it as an advantage when at the park. The rapid pace through the innings has not resulted in a cheaper ticket, nor has it reduced the wait time at concessions or the restroom. Too much gameplay is missed simply because you want to hit the head and grab something to eat. And if you have kids and require multiple trips up....you legitimately miss half of the game now.

The idea that you should pay less because games are taking less time to play is silly. It's not as if you're paying by the minute.

You're not losing game action (unless you're a fan of repeated pick-off attempts), you're losing time spent by hitters adjusting their cups, batting helmets, batting gloves and cleaning their spikes and pitchers walking around the mound.

I mean, I don't really care if someone complained about it before not (and for the record, I was not in favor of speeding up the game), it has been an unintended consequence of the change and it has not been a positive one. People pay SIGNIFICANTLY more for a ticket today than they did in the 1976 playoff game that you chose to reference.

My position on this was, is, and will continue to remain the same. I actually like spending the afternoon or evening at the ballpark. If they want to increase the pace of the gameplay, that's fine. Perhaps they should consider lengthening the time between half innings or innings then, so patrons can actually use the restroom, purchase food, get their kid something from the gift shop, etc without missing a chunk of the game.

Adding more time to breaks -- which are already too long -- defeats the purpose of speeding up the game. Too many fans find the sport boring because there's too much down time.

I'm sorry this doesn't work for you but I suspect you're in the minority.

 

[shu09]

I mean, I don't really care if someone complained about it before not (and for the record, I was not in favor of speeding up the game), it has been an unintended consequence of the change and it has not been a positive one. People pay SIGNIFICANTLY more for a ticket today than they did in the 1976 playoff game that you chose to reference.

My position on this was, is, and will continue to remain the same. I actually like spending the afternoon or evening at the ballpark. If they want to increase the pace of the gameplay, that's fine. Perhaps they should consider lengthening the time between half innings or innings then, so patrons can actually use the restroom, purchase food, get their kid something from the gift shop, etc without missing a chunk of the game.

While you raise an interesting point, MLB (and other leagues) do not care about the game day experience of the average fan. Everything they do these days is about TV and money. I can't think of one major sport that isn't a complete money grab these days. Times have changed, and not for the better. My interest in watching pro (and now college) sports is at an all-time low because of this. I don't think it will recover.