The World Series just ended a couple days ago. In fact, as I write this, I'm watching the victory parade for the Red Sox. As an avid Red Sox fan, the World Series had an obvious favorable outcome. But while I celebrate the results on the field, I have some real concerns about the future of the game I love.
As a baseball player, I'm old. When Tim Wakefield retired two years ago, there no longer were major league players older than me active. But as a baseball fan, I'm young; and that is a concern.
Major League Baseball will tout the increase in viewership, up almost 12% from last year's series. The increase of viewers is likely more about it being a Cardinal / Red Sox series, with both franchises having large, dedicated fan bases. But that next level of information shows the future of the game, if things don't change. According to Nielsen, the average age of a World Series viewer was 54.4 years old. The next generation is just not there; only 4.3% of the TV audience was between 6 and 17 years old.
I'm a hardcore fan of the Red Sox, yet I struggled to stay awake on some of the nights. Most all of the games were ending around 12 a.m. EDT. The youth, all of who need to go to school the next morning, are simply being shut out of their chance to fall in love with the greatest game invented.
The games start later because of the TV contract with Fox, and I understand that if Fox pays that kind of money they get a say in the schedule. But a simple business rule is you cannot sacrifice long term success for a short term gain, and that is what I believe is happening.
There are a couple things MLB can do to start positioning the game to romance that next generation of viewers.
- I would prefer a 7 p.m. EDT start time for weeknight games. But even a 7:30 p.m. start time instead of the 8:07 time we had this year would give more opportunity for a younger audience to watch.
- How about a 4 p.m. Saturday game during the series? The last World Series game played during the day was in 1987.
Both of those suggestions might involve a concession with Fox, TBS and ESPN for some broadcast rights fees. But I would view that as an investment in the future of the game; an investment in the next generation of season ticket holders and TV viewers.
The Wall Street Journal and Forbes both had excellent coverage on this topic. You can see those articles at:
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