Humans like competing [1]. But while organized sports have been around for as long as human civilization [2], how we\u2019ve consumed them has changed significantly and frequently in the last 100 years.<\/p>\n
Until the 20th<\/sup> century, the only timely engagement with sports was to go in-person. A few lucky ancient Greeks may have been immortalized by a Homeric poem or two [3], but that\u2019s not exactly a quick turnaround. To some extent, that changed with the mass dissemination of information via newspapers, but even that would happen on a one- or two-day delay.<\/p>\n That changed with radio. For the first time, baseball and football could be consumed live by fans who weren\u2019t in the stadium. It created a new wave of jobs\u2014think broadcasters and production managers, for example\u2014but it also was critical for the growth of sports and of radio. Without radio, sports would never have become as widely consumed as they\u2019ve become. And in turn, sports contributed to the rise of radio, giving reason for sports fans to engage.<\/p>\n Radio had a two- or three-decade run as the undisputed king, but that rapidly changed with the advent (and accessibility) of television. Broadcasters stopped being story-tellers and started doing more to let the images on TV tell those same stories. Baseball, a sport so perfectly suited for radio, lost top-billing as America\u2019s most popular sport to football, where the big hits are (or at least were, pre-concussion) a whole lot better to see than just to hear about.<\/p>\n Television engagement changed the way the sports were played and delivered\u2014the pace of the games, the advertising, and the camera angles used haven\u2019t changed all that much since the first baseball game was broadcast on television nationally in 1951 [4].<\/p>\n With the rise of digital, we are in the midst of the third significant change in how fans will consume live sports. This post focuses on baseball, but online sports consumption will change the rules, engagement, and sources of revenues across the board.<\/p>\n In an era where content is increasingly consumed online, attitudes towards ads and pace of play has changed. Highlights from games, for example, are much more readily available because of options like YouTube than they\u2019ve ever been before, and that risks making advertising during games a less appealing proposition for local and national businesses. It\u2019s a similar problem to the one that late-night television is facing right now [5]\u2014if fans can get the good stuff online, why sit through commercials and the less exciting elements of the game?<\/p>\n Major League Baseball has been behind the curve (pun fully intended) on a number of different fronts as they try to keep fans engaged, but MLB Advanced Media is best-in-class. It allows fans to watch almost any game from anywhere. Home vs. road broadcasts, television vs. radio broadcasts, and regular vs. high-definition broadcasts are all available at different price tiers.<\/p>\n This change is significant for two key reasons:<\/p>\n To some degree, MLB.tv can supplant cable with respect to subscription revenue\u2014it can replace what it loses in cable with what it gains from online. But that doesn\u2019t help with advertising, which is either less watched or less relevant (for out-of-market fans, for example; these ads that I suffer through\/must cost $17.50 to make during Cardinals\u00a0broadcasts<\/a> [9] are wasted on me, a Boston-based fan), and it also means that companies need to figure out new ways to get their name out there.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the broadcast itself is fundamentally the same as it has been for decades: same camera angles, same broadcasting style, etc., and those are both increasingly obsolete now that I could easily toggle back-and-forth between options at the click of a button. I imagine that will change over time as well.<\/p>\n Lastly, rules will invariably continue to change. There\u2019s talk of changing baseball rules around pace, intentional walks [10], designated hitters, and even options as drastic as changing the innings in a game [11]. The last one won\u2019t happen, but over time I do expect more substantive changes to MLB rules as it adapts to fans with more modern sensibilities and to digital broadcasting.<\/p>\n Word count: 770<\/p>\n ————————-<\/p>\n [1] No citation needed for that.<\/p>\n [2] Jeff Hartsell, \u201cWrestling \u2018in our blood,\u2019 says Bulldogs\u2019 Luvsandorj,\u201d The Post and Courier<\/em>, March 16, 2011, http:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/sports\/wrestling-in-our-blood-says-bulldogs-luvsandorj\/article_38523109-17ce-59d5-9943-599b8e5cd508.html<\/a>, accessed November, 2016.<\/p>\n [3] Homer, The Odyssey<\/em>, Book 8.<\/p>\n [4] The first nationally televised game was the National League playoff between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, famous for a walk-off home run by Bobby Thompson now known as \u201cThe Shot Heard \u2018Round the World.\u201d<\/p>\n [5] Brad Adgate, \u201cWith Colbert Coming To CBS, The Competition For Late Night Moves To The Second Screen,\u201d Forbes<\/em>, April 14, 2014, http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/bradadgate\/2014\/04\/14\/with-colbert-coming-to-cbs-the-competition-for-late-night-moves-to-the-second-screen\/#f04ac206db5a<\/a>, accessed November, 2016.<\/p>\n [6] Brad Tuttle, \u201cA Record Number of People Just Cancelled Their Pay TV Subscriptions,\u201d Time<\/em>, August 31, 2016, http:\/\/time.com\/money\/4473996\/cutting-the-cord-cable-tv-alternatives\/<\/a>, accessed November, 2016.<\/p>\n [7] United States Census Bureau, United States Summary: 2010<\/em>, 2010, Table 6, p. 60, http:\/\/www.census.gov\/prod\/cen2010\/cph-2-1.pdf<\/a>, accessed November, 2016.<\/p>\n [8] \u201cA Map of Baseball Nation,\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, April 24, 2014, http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2014\/04\/24\/upshot\/facebook-baseball-map.html<\/a>, accessed November, 2016. [10] Mike Axisa, \u201cReport: Changes to strike zone, intentional walk may be coming in 2017,\u201d CBS Sports<\/em>, May 21, 2016, http:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/mlb\/news\/report-changes-to-strike-zone-intentional-walk-may-be-coming-in-2017\/<\/a>, accessed November, 2016.<\/p>\n\n
\n[9] Seriously, watch the commercial.<\/p>\n