I commented about the ESPN thing on a baseball Facebook group, and the responses were basically what you'd expect from a Facebook group. "EPSN is woke, good riddance," and "MLB is better off without ESPN," or "ESPN doesn't care about baseball anyway." You get the idea. And while, unfortunately, I do believe the last one has more than a l…
I commented about the ESPN thing on a baseball Facebook group, and the responses were basically what you'd expect from a Facebook group. "EPSN is woke, good riddance," and "MLB is better off without ESPN," or "ESPN doesn't care about baseball anyway." You get the idea. And while, unfortunately, I do believe the last one has more than a little truth to it, I think it's very short-sighted to celebrate this move or even shrug it off.
As I said in that post, I don't believe the sky is falling or that baseball is going to collapse in the near future or anything like that. This is not catastrophic, like it would have been if ESPN had suddenly decided to drop baseball in, say, 1995 or something like that. But I don't see how it's a good thing. ESPN is not what it was and there are other options, I get that. But it's still the biggest sports station out there, and it's on every traditional and streaming cable service, not to mention it's owned by the same company that runs Disney+ and Hulu. Hardcore fans will always find baseball wherever it is, but if the Royals' issues with Ballys/Fan Duel have shown us anything, casual and middle ground fans will give up if you make it hard for them to watch. Accessibility to games is, in my opinion, one of the biggest issues facing MLB right now. I haven't been able to watch MLB Network in two years because YouTube TV dropped them. I don't know what its status is on other streamers, but YouTube TV is a big one, and it's the one I have. And as much as I want MLB Network, I don't want to start over with a new provider. I've been paying for the Ballys app to watch the Royals for two years, and I'm not thrilled about that either.
Anyway, my long-winded point is this. ESPN isn't what it once was, especially for us baseball fans. But while it is far from a death-blow for the sport, I don't see how losing a weekly showcase on one of the most accessible platforms for sports, and the revenue that goes with it, is a good thing for the sport.
Well said, Patrick. A parallel I saw drawn was the situation with ESPN and the NHL several years ago. When hockey left, the network basically stopped paying attention to it. I don't think that happens with baseball, but I wouldn't be surprised if the time devoted to it on its various Sportscenters and talking head shows greatly diminished. And it's not that great to start.
I commented about the ESPN thing on a baseball Facebook group, and the responses were basically what you'd expect from a Facebook group. "EPSN is woke, good riddance," and "MLB is better off without ESPN," or "ESPN doesn't care about baseball anyway." You get the idea. And while, unfortunately, I do believe the last one has more than a little truth to it, I think it's very short-sighted to celebrate this move or even shrug it off.
As I said in that post, I don't believe the sky is falling or that baseball is going to collapse in the near future or anything like that. This is not catastrophic, like it would have been if ESPN had suddenly decided to drop baseball in, say, 1995 or something like that. But I don't see how it's a good thing. ESPN is not what it was and there are other options, I get that. But it's still the biggest sports station out there, and it's on every traditional and streaming cable service, not to mention it's owned by the same company that runs Disney+ and Hulu. Hardcore fans will always find baseball wherever it is, but if the Royals' issues with Ballys/Fan Duel have shown us anything, casual and middle ground fans will give up if you make it hard for them to watch. Accessibility to games is, in my opinion, one of the biggest issues facing MLB right now. I haven't been able to watch MLB Network in two years because YouTube TV dropped them. I don't know what its status is on other streamers, but YouTube TV is a big one, and it's the one I have. And as much as I want MLB Network, I don't want to start over with a new provider. I've been paying for the Ballys app to watch the Royals for two years, and I'm not thrilled about that either.
Anyway, my long-winded point is this. ESPN isn't what it once was, especially for us baseball fans. But while it is far from a death-blow for the sport, I don't see how losing a weekly showcase on one of the most accessible platforms for sports, and the revenue that goes with it, is a good thing for the sport.
Well said, Patrick. A parallel I saw drawn was the situation with ESPN and the NHL several years ago. When hockey left, the network basically stopped paying attention to it. I don't think that happens with baseball, but I wouldn't be surprised if the time devoted to it on its various Sportscenters and talking head shows greatly diminished. And it's not that great to start.