Is Anybody Watching? Twins See Sharp Decline In TV Viewers

[Brock Beauchamp]

40 minutes ago, RpR said:

That has nothing to do really with rules and regs.; it is the same reason people settle out of court.

Not because one is right or wrong but because some do not want to spend the time to prove their case.

Oh, the NFL had a bunch of reasons to settle out of court and I bet zero of them were "do not want to spend the time to prove our case". They would have been (rightfully, IMO) skewered by public opinion if evidence was brought to light about that situation.

But aside from that, I notice you didn't quote the rest of my post. It's going to be *very* hard for a sports organization to stop a player from raising a fist or taking a knee using legal action; not only is that likely a protected right of the player, the sports organization will be raked over the coals for trying to stop the player at all.

[Irishman]

On 8/7/2021 at 3:03 PM, Captain18s said:

I lost interest when they took a knee. Started watching fewer games and found other interests. The George Floyd sign in RF hasn’t helped. 
When I watch sports, I need no lectures or reminders about any politics, especially from players and announcers. Does every activity on TV have to have a message?

I agreed.   I wish all fans in all MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA teams do not come to watch or buy shirts.    Those players make way too much money.    I say screw them!

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 minutes ago, Irishman said:

I agreed.   I wish all fans in all MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA teams do not come to watch or buy shirts.    Those players make way too much money.    I say screw them!

The owners make more money, by a lot. I never understood why people resent the on-field product that entertains us and not the people who sit in luxury suites and do nothing but move money around.

[notoriousgod71]

Too many mediocre to awful pitchers in this league.  I want to watch great pitching matchups but they just don't happen anymore. 

 

Even if by some miracle degrom squares off against Kershaw what's the point? They'll both be out by the sixth and the game will be decided by garbage relievers.

The relievers... WHY ARE WE USING 9 MAN BULLPENS? How terrible are managers and GMs that it has come to this? I'm not going to bother to learn anything about these guys when they'll just be cycled through for someone else after they've given the team an inning. 

Cookie cutter players. We got rid of the cookie cutter stadiums because they were awful. Now 90 percent of the players are the same. They hit. 240 with 30 home runs and 170 k. Great product. Or they throw 97 but can't last more than 80 pitches.  Sweet..

7 inning dh, random runner on 2nd,  keep adding playoff teams, challenges, can't block the plate. I still get angry when they don't pitch for an ibb 

 

I want BASEBALL not a stat driven simulation.

[puckstopper1]

On 8/7/2021 at 2:03 PM, Captain18s said:

I lost interest when they took a knee. Started watching fewer games and found other interests. The George Floyd sign in RF hasn’t helped. 
When I watch sports, I need no lectures or reminders about any politics, especially from players and announcers. Does every activity on TV have to have a message?

I was wondering if anyone was going to call this out.  I know of a few people that totally walked away from the Twins this season because of the sign in RF.

I have not been able to watch the Twins for years after cutting the cord, but I would listen to them on the radio as much as possible.  Not this season.  Nothing really to listen to.

I will catch an occasional Fox game or YouTube/MLB.com Free game of the day when my schedule allows, but am certainly not scheduling my time around it.

[bighat]

10 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

The owners make more money, by a lot. I never understood why people resent the on-field product that entertains us and not the people who sit in luxury suites and do nothing but move money around.

I've always found that strange also. Professional athletes are the definition of guys who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. And many of them came from nothing. Some grew up in absolute poverty with zero advantages in life. But through hard work, busting their asses day in and day out, studying their craft for years, they make it rich.

Now the same people who yell at the poor to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" are also angry with those very same poor people who have done just that, and succeeded. It's a head-scratcher.

[RpR]

4 hours ago, bighat said:

I've always found that strange also. Professional athletes are the definition of guys who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. And many of them came from nothing. Some grew up in absolute poverty with zero advantages in life. But through hard work, busting their asses day in and day out, studying their craft for years, they make it rich.

Now the same people who yell at the poor to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" are also angry with those very same poor people who have done just that, and succeeded. It's a head-scratcher.

That applies to baseball but not many other pro-sports, especially football.

[Squirrel]

9 minutes ago, RpR said:

That applies to baseball but not many other pro-sports, especially football.

Okay ... but to keep this thread on track, we are talking about baseball. If you want to talk about the shape of sports in general, you can start a thread in the Sports Bar forum. Thanks.

[Musk21]

Michael Rand of the Star Tribune had Dave St. Peter on his daily podcast to talk about the decline in viewers. You can listen here:

https://dcs.megaphone.fm/STB1664018518.mp3?key=133bd989a13d29121caaae5e32539e76

St. Peter did confirm that the Twins contract with Bally's expires after the 2023 season.

How frustrating is the idea that part of the decline is because the games simply aren't available to a certain subset of subscribers?

"It is frustrating," St. Peter said. "I think fundamental to our job is to ensure the accessibility of our product. ... Clearly viewing of our games, whether they be at Target Field or at home on your couch, seems to be a pretty core part of the way we promote our brand. When you lack that accessibility, it's a problem."

St. Peter added that he hopes the issue is resolved before the start of the 2022 season and confirmed that the Twins' contract with Bally Sports North ends after the 2023 season.

"Clearly over the long term, I can assure you as contracts expire you're going to 100% see that change," he said.

[Vanimal46]

Wouldn’t surprise me if every team tied to Bally Sports is looking for alternatives as soon as their contract expires. What kind of contract could the Twins bring in on the open market? 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

On 8/6/2021 at 1:38 PM, LA VIkes Fan said:

I really like the realignment idea assuming we're going to a universal DH. I'll post this as a separate blog, but here's my proposal for realignment. I know it's fantasy but hey, it's the dog days of summer so why not? 

5 divisions, not 6. 12 teams in the playoffs, The top 2 in each division plus two remaining teams teams with best records make the playoffs so there is a reward for being a little better than average. Four best records get byes while the other 8 play 3 games series down to 4. The remaining 8 teams (4 with byes plus 4 first round winners) re-seed by record, not location.  During the regular season you play all of the teams in three of the other four divisions 6 times each, 3 at home, 3 away.  That's 108 games (6 times 18 - 6 teams in each division). You play the remaining games in your division. You play 11 games each year against your 5 division opponents, except one only 10 times, for 54 games, total 162. Alternatively, add a game and rotate the unbalanced 81 home/82 away schedules in each division. You could rotate through the division the one team that you "only" play 10 times and you'll have to rotate each you which team gets the extra home game, 2 you get the extra, 2 your opponent, to balance the schedule.

Division are by location to create/enhance rivalries:

West Coast Division - San Diego, LA Angels, LA Dodgers, San Francisco, Oakland/Vegas, Seattle

Southwest/Rocky mountain Division - Houston, Texas (Dallas), Arizona, Kansas City, St. Louis, Colorado (Denver)

Midwest Division -  Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburg or Toronto (bummer that Twins are in a different time zone, but couldn't figure out a way to fix that)

Southeast Division -  Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Washington, Cincinnati, Cleveland or Baltimore (depends on whether you want the Ohio or Beltway rivalry)

Northeast Division - Boston, NY Yankees, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburg or Toronto, Cleveland or Baltimore     

You rotate through the other divisions in the regular season. One year, the Twins play the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest, next year the Southeast, Southwest, West Coast, next year the Southwest, West Coast, Northeast, etc. That away the existing rivalries that are being broken up still play 6 games against each other 3 out of every 4 years like the Cubs and Cardinals. Those will fade over time; the Cubs new hated rival will be the White Sox, the Cards, the Royals.  

What do you guys think?

I like it. I would put Toronto in our division. That would put the 2 Pennsylvania teams in the same division.

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Pace of play is a problem. TV has has added 30 seconds to each break to make advertising quotas.

How about shorten breaks by those 30 seconds with an advertising bug on the TV during play, with an announcer's read of "This 1/2 inning is sponsored by..." That would shorten games by 8.5 minutes (with no in-game pitching changes).