Baseball's Persistent Technology Problem
The more things change, the more they stay the same
Baseball's Persistent Technology Problem
I like to read old newspapers as I play games.
It’s hard to keep up, of course. There usually isn’t enough time to read as much as I’d like. However, those old newspapers really can add a lot of insight and depth into the controversies and discussions that took place during these old seasons.
Some of the controversies have been forgotten. And some of the forgotten controversies are actually relevant today.
Television
Have you ever felt frustrated that your favorite team’s games are blacked out in your region? Ever wonder how in the world the sport is supposed to grow when local fans can’t even watch their own team without padding the pockets of the local cable television monopoly?
It might surprise you to know that this problem has existed since the dawn of television.
I came across this front page article on the front page of the June 8, 1949 issue of The Sporting News:
The article gets a little bit hard to read in this next part:
Fortunately, the scan of the second page is much better:
Now there are a few interesting points to mention here:
The short term impact of television was absolutely detrimental to attendance. That was coming anyway, of course, as owners decided not to pour enough money into the upkeep of the old ballparks.
The long term impact of opening the game up to television, however, was a lot different. Baseball’s television golden age of the 1970s and 1980s happened in large part because the sport at the highest level could be seen by everybody, not just those living in major cities.
The anti-television stance taken by some owners, as well as by the Philadelphia Eagles of 1949 (a bit of trivia I never knew), is oddly similar to the stance taken by the Football League in England in the 1950s. Football League games were not broadcast live on television until 1983, when things finally started to liberalize.
So what does this have to do with today?
While owners certainly would take a short term financial hit if they got rid of the archaic regional television right system, the long-term benefit for the game would be huge. Fans would be much more likely to buy a reasonably priced MLB TV streaming package if all games were truly available.
Owners ought to remember that fans will refuse to attend games at ballparks that are not well maintained. The fad over the last few decades of forcing cities to build and maintain stadiums intended solely for private use will not likely continue indefinitely. At some point in time, revenue needs to be reinvested into the organization.
Fans have always used video to criticize umpire decisions. Robotic umpires were a pipe dream in 1949, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some fans of a science fiction bent might not have fantasized about it once or twice.
Anyway, I’d love to hear your take on this interesting and long forgotten subject.