Radio broadcasts

[Otto von Ballpark]

The NBA fares better, with 165 regular season games on TNT/ESPN/ABC, although I note that was a new record rather than a yearly norm:

 

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-tv-schedule/

 

This site says 90 regular season games on NBA TV (again, I welcome a better source if you have one):

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_TV

 

An absolute total less than MLB. MLB plays twice as many games so you might think proportionally the NBA would have an advantage, but I am not sure how important that is since their season schedules are both about 6 months long. A Sunday night national MLB broadcast shouldn't be considered less exposure than a Sunday night NBA national broadcast, just because those two MLB teams also played the previous day and the NBA teams did not.

 

Obviously there are more factors -- I am sure national NBA games are more marketable because the star players are guaranteed more involvement, etc., but just in terms of the parameters of this debate, I don't think you can criticize MLB for significantly holding back their product nationally compared to the NHL or NBA.

[Otto von Ballpark]

If anything, the schedule length is a challenge that MLB has to overcome in this comparison. A national TV partner like ESPN knows that adding, say, a Tuesday night national MLB game is going to be going head-to-head with every team's local RSN that same night. Whereas the NBA and NHL have lighter daily schedules, half the teams in the league will be idle on any given day. That might help explain why MLB has a lower proportion of games on non-league networks than the NBA.

 

It's not clear to me that MLB's present national broadcast strategy is appreciably different than those of the NBA or NHL, once you account for factors mostly out of their control like schedule length and the inherent nature of each sport (i.e. the superstar effects).

[TheLeviathan]

 

I just showed you that MLB has a national TV game on virtually every day for 6 months. How does the NBA or NHL clearly beat that?

 

In short, National Broadcast tally board:

 

MLB: 60

NHL: 106

NBA: 165

 

 If we want to start counting what airs on league-owned networks that's going into dicey waters.  Largely because those schedules fluctuate and because, if you want to get technical, they run replays and all sorts of other formats to watch games all the time.  You want to start counting minutes devoted or what?

 

I washed out the league-owned networks because that's just going down a road impossible to tally.  Not to mention those channels are not commonly owned in order for the national broadcast to have all that much meaning.

 

 

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

In short, National Broadcast tally board:

 

MLB: 60

NHL: 106

NBA: 165

 

How is this a discussion again?

Levi, I have no idea where you got 60. MLB has 72 games on Fox/FS1 this year, another ~50 on ESPN, and I think 13 on TBS. That is more like 135, without considering MLB Network.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Levi, I have no idea where you got 60. MLB has 72 games on Fox/FS1 this year, another ~50 on ESPN, and I think 13 on TBS. That is more like 135.

 

Where do you count 50 on ESPN?  Where are your numbers coming from?  I'm taking them straight from MLB.com.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Where do you count 50 on ESPN? Where are your numbers coming from? I'm taking them straight from MLB.com.

ESPN hasn't announced all of their specific games yet. But they broadcast 2 games per week all season, Sunday and Wednesday. Plus holidays.

 

TBS broadcasts start in July. They usually have some good pennant race games in the final weeks, they announce those later too.

[TheLeviathan]

 

ESPN hasn't announced the specific games past June. But they broadcast 2 games per week all season, Sunday and Wednesday. Plus holidays.

 

Not all, multiple broadcasts past June are listed.  None of your numbers add up with what is posted on MLB.com.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Not all, multiple broadcasts past June are listed. None of your numbers add up with what is posted on MLB.com.

I edited my post. The current MLB.com schedule is basically just what has been confirmed. Later season matchups will be selected at a later date, but I assure you that ESPN is not just abandoning Sunday Night Baseball midsummer.

 

Here is a decent rundown:

 

http://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/2017-mlb-national-broadcast-primer.html

 

Here is where I got 72 Fox/FS1 games:

 

http://www.foxsports.com/presspass/latest-news/2017/02/22/fox-sports-set-for-22nd-season-of-major-league-baseball-coverage

[TheLeviathan]

 

I edited my post. The current MLB.com schedule is basically just what has been confirmed. 

 

Heh, I love a national broadcast schedule that feels like it gets slapped together like a Thursday Night Football schedule.  Good idea baseball.

 

Even more reason to not give them one red cent.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Heh, I love a national broadcast schedule that feels like it gets slapped together like a Thursday Night Football schedule. Good idea baseball.

 

Even more reason to not give them one red cent.

Every MLB team plays virtually every day for 6 months, they don't need to set the whole national broadcast schedule 4 months in advance.

 

The NHL and NBA need to determine it in advance because the teams don't play every night. They can't decide midseason to feature a certain club on their Sunday afternoon showcase if the team plays on Saturday that week instead.

 

This is just scheduling logistics, not a failing of MLB. If anything, being able to pick more relevant late season matchups outweighs the advantage of being able to plan your TV watching months in advance.

[TheLeviathan]

Not for me. MLB.Com can't even accurately list what Fox has no problem listing. Again speaks to me of the league's priority.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Next are you going to question MLB's priorities based on the fact they allow their games to be delayed or even postponed by weather, unlike the NHL or NBA?

[TheLeviathan]

 

Next are you going to question MLB's priorities based on the fact they allow their games to be delayed or even postponed by weather, unlike the NHL or NBA?

 

MLB has perfected the money grab, it's pushing me further and further away from the sport quite frankly.  

[drjim]

Someone break out a violin.

[USAFChief]

First rule of holes, Levi...when you're in one, stop digging.

[TheLeviathan]

 

First rule of holes, Levi...when you're in one, stop digging.

 

I don't appreciate being nickled and dimed, simple as that.  It doesn't inspire me to invest my time and effort and especially not my money.

[Vanimal46]

 

And the NFL, while obviously still able to deploy an in-market over the air strategy for their one game a week, doesn't have an easy solution for out of market fans, does it? Last I saw, NFL Game Pass did not offer any live games in the USA. Would you have to use DirecTV to get NFL Sunday Ticket?

 

The NFL has a terrible strategy for out-of-market fans. Unless the Vikings were on national TV, I rarely had the opportunity to watch their games in Texas... 

 

EDIT: Also, I'm disappointed that we're not able to listen to the game on mobile devices. The Vikings GameDay channel on iHeartRadio was always blacked out whenever I tried listening to them in the car.