Catch 22: a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule
The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals are set to square off in what promises to be a compelling World Series between two compelling teams. The Cardinals hail from a place routinely dubbed “the best baseball town in America,” feature the game’s best player Albert Pujols, and have been on a Cinderella ride even before the postseason began. The Texas Rangers are making their second straight World Series appearance, even after losing Cliff Lee, also feature one of the best players in the game Josh Hamilton, and an exciting talented roster.
It should be a World Series baseball is very excited with – two talented, interesting teams that showcase the parity of the sport. Sure, the Rangers are repeat AL pennant winners and the Cards won the title in 2006, but this isn’t the Yankees, Red Sox, or Phillies we’re talking about here. These are realtively fresh teams that aren’t hammered down our throats like those I-95 conglomerates. It should give hope to all franchises that there is a path to success for them… ok, except for maybe the Royals.
Except, what’s good for the sport may actually be hurting the sport. A Cardinals/Rangers World Series is both great and terrible for the sport of baseball. And therein lies baseball’s Catch 22. It’s healthy for the sport to see new teams compete and small markets contend. It’s diastrous for ratings to have new teams compete and small markets contend. Now, Dallas/Fort Worth isn’t a small market by any means, but it’s not a baseball market, nor does it move the meter nationally. The Cards are one of MLB’s most historic teams, yet they don’t have the natiional panache of the Cubs, Yanks, Sox, or Dodgers.
With all of these high-profile teams missing from the ALCS & NLCS, ratings plummeted. The following paragraphs from the AP may actually be enough to wake Bud Selig from his perpetual slumber in a cold sweat:
The NLCS on TBS, with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the Milwaukee Brewers in six games, averaged a 2.9 rating. That was down 43 percent from the 2010 ALCS on the cable channel, when the six-game Rangers-Yankees series averaged a 5.1.
The ALCS on Fox between Texas and the Detroit Tigers averaged a 4.4 over six games, down 20 percent from the 5.5 for the six-game Giants-Phillies NLCS on the network last season.
Yipes! Each series lost over one-fifth of viewers compared to last year, and over two-fifths on TBS. A more detailed breakdown from the ever-informative tvsportsratings Twitter page provide an even bleaker picture:
Words like “worst” “oldest” and “lowest rated” litter the facts regarding the LCS broadcasts. Even more discouraging for baseball is the fact they’re audience isn’t just declining, but getting older. By far the largest portion of the baseball watching public is over 50. Perhaps that explains why Tim McCarver is still employed. A decreasing, aging audience are two knockout blows to any good vibes coming from baseball’s postseason ratings numbers.
Pundits are predicting that this year’s World Series numbers are going to continue the declining trend. Unless the series goes seven games, features a couple extra inning games, maybe a perfect game, and an army of rally squirrels playing as the Cardinals DH, ratings will be a disappointment simply because the big money, high profile teams aren’t playing.
Casual fans will watch postseason baseball to see those big money teams. Baseball markets those big money teams.
On the other hand, we hear all the time that dominance from those big money teams is bad for the sport. Baseball needs competition from small market and non-traditional teams like the Brewers and the Rangers to be healthier as a whole.
It’s the classic Catch 22.
So what is baseball to do?
First, baseball needs to assist the casual fan to actually care about teams like the Texas Rangers. They need to market Josh Hamilton as the best human-interest story in baseball history instead of Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. They need to make Albert Pujols the new Barry Bonds. They need to (God forbid) introduce the nation to Tony Plush. Ok, maybe the last one is a bit of a stretch. If the baseball media and its television partners at ESPN, TBS, and Fox are going to focus 95% of their time on teams in the Northeast, Chicago, and Los Angeles, then it shouldn’t be a surprise when viewers flee in their absence.
Baseball also needs some dramatic overhauls to draw in young fans of the Youtube/Facebook/Twitter generation. Blocking all their videos from Youtube IS NOT a great strategy here! Seven hour games is not what young fans want to see! Maybe the older audience is so large for baseball games because those fans feel like they can get in a good nap between innings 3 and 6. Seriously though, baseball must find a way to bring the game to younger fans.
But until then, baseball will praise parity and curse their poor ratings. And we’ll continue to go round and round and round. I’m expecting a great World Series between Texas and St. Louis. Unfortunately for baseball, not enough fans care enough to tune in.
