How do you feel about baseball's playoff start times?

[SabresRule]

As baseball fans,

one of the biggest things we have wondered about are the starting times of playoff games and how they changed ever since night games in the playoffs increased eventually in the late 70s.

(I think it was a good thing. Too many young people probably had to play hooky to attend those playoff games!)

I saved some of the old playoff schedules from DBSForums, and there were years when the ALCS and NLCS (This was before the Wild Card and Division Series) were regionalized, meaning it was impossible to mainly see how the other league's representative are doing.

Whatever happened to the idea of scheduling separate games? If that happened today, there's be a huge uproar!

Also, we have heavily debated the idea of when is too late for a game.

Some of us say that games start too late so younger people can't see the games and that the weather can be cold and it can affect viewership.

OTOH, in the old days, games started too early.

I'm not saying all games should start super late, but I don't want all the games to start so early.

I have a three-day college schedule (Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday) with five classes, and I stay there until 3:30 on Tuesdays and 1:00 on Thursdays- Oh, and I also have a night class on Wednesdays that resulted in me missing the entire Cubs-Dodgers game!

Had I gone to college in the days when almost every LCS/World Series game was in the day time, I would have been lucky to get to the TV by the seventh-inning stretch!

(Remember, there was no 'Baseball Tonight.' Trying to find out about the innings you missed was extremely difficult in those days for those old enough to remember.)

I ask you these:

1. Can you recall being frustrated by a game starting too early or too late?

2. Do you think games should be scheduled earlier, are they too late, etc? What changes would you make?

 

[SabresRule]

Can someone move this to 'The Sports Section?'

I think I put this in the wrong section!

 

[Mets82]

To be honest, Sabres, I guess you could change the times. The problem I have is when they overlap the games. I mean they should really space out there games if it's going to be a doubleheader because you don't know if they'll go to extra innings.
How about a 12:30 pm, 4:15 pm and 7:45 pm? I mean that wouldn't be too bad. I don't think I would have the late start times. I remember it being like 10:07, 10 pm, and I think even a game starting 11:07. None of that. If not that 7:45 start what about for a west coast game 9 pm straight up?

I would make World Series games day games. Not all of them but a couple. I would try to make all postseason games day games. Like I said, not all of them but some. I mean if there going to say it's about ratings, well put them on in the daytime and you might get a better rating. I mean you saw what happened with the NLCS last year. The ratings as well as the series stunk. Maybe in the daytime you would get a few more eyeballs.

 

[Jimbo]

Generally fans watch thier team(s) not all the games are of interest.
That said, why do we have to have these games all on ONE NETWORK ?

They could have one series on at 7:00 pm and another at 8 pm
I actually like the 6:30 start if they actually started then.

You could go 5 and 8, this way if you worked till 5 you would only miss the beginning and be able to see most of the game.

I have not been able to follow the Cub's Dodger's due to it starting at 10 pm, same goes with the Red Sox and Angels, except for the weekends.
I can understand them being later if the games are on the west coast to a certain extent.

Heres a prime example of screwed up times:
Cub's / Dodger's on the weekend starting at 10 PM, whats wrong with a 4 pm start ?

Then there's a Tuesday night Cub's game that doesn't start till 9:30 should it go that far.

Cub's play IN LA over the weekend and both games start AFTER 10 PM

Personally I think TBS should be SHOT.


The thing I was starting to say about being on the same network, TBS also owns TNT and a few others, TBS and TNT are in ALL homes, there;s no reason w\that they could not show one on one and the other on the other, not nessasarily atr the same time, but they could over lap especially if one is AL and the other is NL.

Jimbo

 

[boomer69]

There is really no solution to this that will please everybody untill someone figures out a way to put the whole county on one time zone, and that is not going to happen!!!...

I agree that having more than one network carry the games will help to a cetain extent, but nothing short of playing only 2 games a day will solve this, and that's not going to happen either!!!...

But then, if a frog had wings, he woudn't bump his ass every time he jumped!!!...:

 

[adeadmarsh]

Start time too late!!!

The start time is too late for east coasters. My children go to bed at 7:30, the games are just starting then! All these children who are so excited about baseball miss the games! A happy medium of even 7pm would allow the East Coasters to catch most of the beginning of the game and allow the West Coasters to only miss the first 1 or 2 innings. Real die heards will catch it all, but the MLB is losing the "semi-die hards". I mean, even just ONE of the weekend world series games could be a day game, right???? Come on!

We have started a group on facebook called World Series Games should be EARLIER for the next generation of FANS!! If you wish the start time was bit earlier, please join. Once we get a bunch of members we plan to send the info to the MLB to let them know who the public feels! If you are on facebook, search the groups for us!

 

[jrbdmb]

World Series start times are *far* too late for the East Coast. I'm resigned to the fact that this will never change for the weeknight games, but at least start the weekend games no later than 7:00 PM (and preferably 4:00 PM).

 

[geonaz]

When I made a post previously about the late starting times I was told it's all about the money. I agree. But then we hear that this series was the lowest rated series. If it is all about the money that should speak volumes about the start times. This year we had two east coast teams playing. It seems to me the start times should have been tailored toward the fans most likely to watch the series, those on the east coast. Two west coast teams would get starts more beneficial to their time zones. Now for the obvious. What to do for a series with one team from each coast or somewhere in the middle of the country? How about home team advantage for starting times? May not be perfect solution but I think it merits some thought.

 

[anders5189]

The WS ratings were about about an 8. The ratings for the afternoon games during the LCS were about a 3. That is why you won't see any day games during the WS any time soon. Sponsors like Chevy will not pay big $$$ for a pregame show that has an audience only about a 1/3 the size of what you'd get in primetime.

Another thing is that the matchup this year was terrible. But in the 11 years that FOX has shown the WS 7 of them have featured the Yankees or Red Sox. Why would you move the WS to the afternoon when the odds suggest that you can get one of baseball's marquee teams in the WS?