I still think the MLB should do a much better job of marketing the pinnacle of the baseball season, The World Series. All too often it’s just like an afterthought, there’s very little hoopla built up around the series like the NFL does for Super Bowls.
Did the Super Bowl always have it this way? Of course not, it started out as a wonky affair that slowly but steadily built itself to the stature it holds today. It’s no accident that the game has been built up to the way it is today. It uses entertainment, a long build up and a central location to play the biggest football game of the year.
In promoting the sport of baseball, what more should or can the MLB organization do to bring it up from where it is now. This past World Series we’ve seen a big decline in viewership, that could be for several reasons. The Covid-19 crisis is still in play, but baseball fans were clamoring for some baseball to watch only a few months ago, then suddenly didn’t care to watch the biggest games of the year?
The odds for all the teams to make the World Series is already out, the Phillies are a very way out longshot at +3000, but the Dodgers are still at -500 to repeat, this seems like a very safe bet because the Dodgers are built for the future. Some would even argue we may see a dynasty develop in LA with the way they played the regular season and the postseason.
So we’ll see what develops in the off season to see if the Phillies can add that missing piece that may bring them back to a visit to the World Series. Right now of course, we’re still dealing with the Pandemic so just going to a ballgame would be a treat next year for most fans.
Looking back at the big picture of the World Series, did it seem to work at a neutral site? Could it work better at the neutral site in the future? You could still sell the tickets to each other home teams prospective fans. They would have to travel to support their team. Like football though, the Super Bowl has become more of a big corporate event, but is celebrated by the fanbase of more teams than is seemingly involved in a World Series it seems. Perhaps this is the reason it has built itself up so strongly.
Baseball is looking more to change individual aspects of the game that have been longstanding within the game for years. Pitchers taking some time to deliver a pitch, batters trying to break the rhythm of the pitcher by stepping out of the box a little here and there. Things that really no one has ‘complained’ about but for some reason baseball has declared war on certain aspects of its own game.
Instead of finding things that certain members (the Commissioner) of the MLB feels are wrong with the game, and turn the table and find things that are great and unique to baseball. Now with the way the MLB has seemingly invited the betting world into the environment of the game. How about some mega-money raffles during the game that could entice a national crowd? Inject some fun and a chance to win for the fans, if not the main prize, a number of season ticket plans the following season. That sort of involvement would go a long way to build some interest in viewers.
Let’s see the game of baseball succeed more, but we need to give it a chance, not regulate it under the table with so many new and obscure timed rules and regulations. Let the teams play, and the fans will follow. Give the World Series a number of much needed additions to bring more casual and curious fans on board of this great game.
