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Why has ESPN always downplayed NCAA Baseball?
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:10 am
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:10 am
It's a big 3 sport but gets treated like lacrosse. I don't get it. Are the media economics not great?
Meanwhile, shocker, they play up softball like we give a shite.
Meanwhile, shocker, they play up softball like we give a shite.
This post was edited on 6/5/24 at 9:11 am
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Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:11 am to UTprideofTX
It's a niche sport. There isn't a Big 3 sport in college. There's football and basketball and the rest are lumped in together.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:13 am to UTprideofTX
Because despite what LSU fans say it's not on the same level as football.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:14 am to Leto II
Maybe it's a South thing, but it doesn't add up with fan passion/interest and my guess donor funding too.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:15 am to UTprideofTX
It's not popular everywhere in the country like football and basketball. That's just a fact.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:15 am to UTprideofTX
quote:
Maybe it's a South thing
It is.
If there was $ to be made off of showing and promoting it, it would be done.
This post was edited on 6/5/24 at 9:17 am
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:16 am to UTprideofTX
Because its highly regional to the southeast/Texas.
Oklahoma cares more about softball than baseball.
There is no footprint for viewership in the north. If Nebraska didnt exist in the B10 the highest attendance B10 team isnt even in the Top 40 in the country.
The West has a big "dont give a shite" about college baseball as well for the most part outside of Oregon State who fills up a relatively small (3,587 capacity) stadium.
Oklahoma cares more about softball than baseball.
There is no footprint for viewership in the north. If Nebraska didnt exist in the B10 the highest attendance B10 team isnt even in the Top 40 in the country.
The West has a big "dont give a shite" about college baseball as well for the most part outside of Oregon State who fills up a relatively small (3,587 capacity) stadium.
This post was edited on 6/5/24 at 9:18 am
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:16 am to Leto II
And even in the SEC most baseball programs lose money.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:18 am to UTprideofTX
Other than a few markets, people hardly even watch MLB anymore. They aren't going to tune in to regular season college baseball. I only watch LSU postseason baseball. Once they're out, I don't watch a single minute of it.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:19 am to UTprideofTX
Because it doesn’t get as many viewers as other sports and thus doesn’t command the ad revenue needed for ESPN to put it front and center.
This post was edited on 6/5/24 at 9:20 am
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:20 am to PTLSU
they do with the CWS
Regionals have never been featured as much but WCWS ends so Supers will be front and center
Regionals have never been featured as much but WCWS ends so Supers will be front and center
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:24 am to UTprideofTX
Think about how much southern schools care about college hockey. Same thing for northern schools caring about college baseball. Both are simply regional sports and therefore not going to be a big draw for ESPN.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:27 am to Leto II
quote:
It's a niche sport. There isn't a Big 3 sport in college. There's football and basketball and the rest are lumped in together.
Baseball as a sport is unpredictable, college baseball more so than the pros. Arkansas spent a good amount of the year as the number 1 team, went cold going into their Regional, and got eliminated.
Exciting right? Not so much for ESPN. You can't build stories that way.
March Madness works because you get a handful of underdogs, not half of the top teams getting whacked in the opening weekend. When those few teams whose fans will watch them get eliminated the fans will stop watching. So you might lose half your audience, or more, on the opening weekend of the Regionals. Mazel Tov! You just shoot your programming in the dick.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:28 am to UTprideofTX
I remember many years ago EA sports came out with a college baseball game. I thought it was going to do very well but the game bombed. Nobody bought it. I was wrong
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:33 am to UTprideofTX
Both college football and college basketball were huge before their pro counterparts. MLB predated real organized college baseball by a good thirty years.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:40 am to nicholastiger
quote:
they do with the CWS
Regionals have never been featured as much but WCWS ends so Supers will be front and center
I suppose the reason that the WCWS gets featured more than baseball regionals is because one is a "world series" and the other is just regionals.
But whatever. One ABC/ESPN channel shows the WCWS and every other one is showing regional College baseball... so I don't get the whining.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:46 am to FLTech
quote:
I remember many years ago EA sports came out with a college baseball game. I thought it was going to do very well but the game bombed. Nobody bought it. I was wrong
And they only made it because 2K Games bought the exclusive MLB rights (after EA Sports got the exclusive NFL rights).
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:48 am to GoGators1995
It's hard to believe that CBS used to televise the CWS championship game while ignoring the rest of the tournament
Posted on 6/5/24 at 9:57 am to UTprideofTX
WCWS outdrew CWS television viewers.
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