CT, and the rest of their schedule includes:Īll of those rebroadcasts will be at 7 p.m. Today, they will show NLCS Game 5 at 7 p.m. It's tough to come up with a more compelling storyline than that.The Marquee Network is in the midst of showing “Run For The Ring,” a series of the Cubs’ postseason run in 2016. It was in the spotlight then, and it's in the spotlight now. The type that reminded you why this complex, confounding, indelible game has lasted so long -surviving wars, segregation, a depression, recessions, labor strikes and shrinking attention spans.Ī lot has changed since the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, or the Indians in 1948.
It was a series that lent itself to flowery language edging toward hyperbole. This World Series brought joy in a time of exhaustion, and a reminder that there are things so much more important than the game. It was a thrilling escape of a World Series, played in the shadow of a more consequential national cliffhanger, a battle of angry teams and distrusted coaches, in which 50, 60 or 80 percent of Americans say they're afraid of what will happen to the country if the other side wins, and some threaten not to accept the result at all. Still, as Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times noted: The effects of this series may be fleeting it's doubtful there will be a notable MLB ratings bump by the time April rolls around.
Yes, many casual observers will never be able to follow a 162-game season with the fervor they give to a once-a-week NFL tilt or a loaded UFC fight. No, not every World Series will feature two teams with this kind of backstory, and one of them from a big market to boot.
But when the sport presents a compelling narrative, America is ready to come running back. The way generations of fans had lived and died with the laundry.Īmerica may not think of baseball first. More than that, however, the interest came from the way those franchises were embedded with the cities they represented. The Cubs-Indians clash was intriguing because of the players involved -burgeoning studs like Chicago's Kris Bryant and Cleveland's Francisco Lindor. The NFL has the edge in event viewing.īut you can't manufacture the past. The NFL and especially the NBA may have more marketable superstars. The biggest thing baseball has going for it, though, is history. Now, with the collective bargaining agreement expiring in December, everything from adding the designated hitter to the National League to stricter pace-of-play rules are on the table. The league has embraced other shifts, including the second wild card. New technology could reduce umpire error even further. The implementation of instant replay has helped get more calls right, but it's still a work in progress. There is no question baseball needs to keep looking in the mirror. Hence reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper's "Make Baseball Fun Again" campaign. It moves at a glacial pace and discourages displays of unbridled celebration with its mothball-infested unwritten rules.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WATCHED 2016 WORLD SERIES GAME 7 PROFESSIONAL
Other professional leagues, from the NBA to the UFC, are also breaking off chunks of cultural relevance.īaseball is stodgy, the narrative goes. According to data cited by 's Will Leitch in April 2015, 67 percent of Americans consider football to be the nation's pastime as compared to 28 percent for baseball. Granted, baseball is America's pastime in name only. There's something deeper at play, though. Undoubtedly, MLB owes a fat gift basket to Epstein, the architect of the Sox's and Cubs' drought-busting runs. Maybe the takeaway is folks like to watch a long curse end. Louis Cardinals and secure their first title since 1918. It was the highest average since 2004, when an average of 25.4 million people tuned in to watch the Boston Red Sox defeat the St. Overall, the 2016 Fall Classic averaged 23.4 million viewers, according to Paulsen of Sports Media Watch, up 59 percent from last season's Kansas City Royals-New York Mets tussle. The numbers don't lie: 40 million people tuned in to watch Wednesday's Game 7 on Fox, the highest viewership for a baseball game in a quarter-century, per USA Today's A.J. The 2016 World Series drew the most viewers in more than a decade.
0 kommentar(er)
