Field of Dreams

[Murderer's Crow]

Sorry but why are they limiting it to 1 game a year? You have the space why not do the damn all star game there too. Shit, do the one game playoff at a neutral site too. You don't have to water it down with 10 games a year every year but 2 or 3 would be pretty cool.

I don't mean it all needs to be the field of dreams but it would be cool if there were other special stadiums that could be developed and used over time to grow the game locally in places where there isn't a home team.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Sorry but why are they limiting it to 1 game a year? You have the space why not do the damn all star game there too. Shit, do the one game playoff at a neutral site too. You don't have to water it down with 10 games a year every year but 2 or 3 would be pretty cool.

I don't mean it all needs to be the field of dreams but it would be cool if there were other special stadiums that could be developed and used over time to grow the game locally in places where there isn't a home team.

Maybe that comes next, but if you do it 2-3 or more times/year it loses the specialness pretty quickly, IMHO. See "Winter Classic, NHL" for instance.

 

[canderson]

Sorry but why are they limiting it to 1 game a year? You have the space why not do the damn all star game there too. Shit, do the one game playoff at a neutral site too. You don't have to water it down with 10 games a year every year but 2 or 3 would be pretty cool.

I don't mean it all needs to be the field of dreams but it would be cool if there were other special stadiums that could be developed and used over time to grow the game locally in places where there isn't a home team.

The Slate Poliitcal Gabfest talks about this in the latest episode.

They second what @Lose Remerswaal says.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

I think the idea of each team playing a game in an alternate park within their fan base region is pretty cool. Imagine how big a story it would be for the Sox to play a game in Burlington, Vermont or Portland?

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Totally agree but big picture, I think it would be great for baseball to have 2-3 games per year at different alternative sites. For example, Game 1 is at the Field of Dreams, game 2 is at Cooper's town, Game 3 is at the game of the MiLB prior year champion's ballpark...etc.

These games would all be significantly more interesting than watching the Yankees play Boston in a soccer field in the UK at 1pm.

And on the watered down aspect of it, what I'm going for is that when we used to have interleague month, it really broke the season up and felt like a special time in baseball. Even after years of doing it, you checked the calendar and when it was done you compared AL vs NL wins. Baseball would benefit from having something besides the All-Star break which nobody cares about even a little.

Edit: Not replying to Merkle, only the two posts above.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

Totally agree but big picture, I think it would be great for baseball to have 2-3 games per year at different alternative sites. For example, Game 1 is at the Field of Dreams, game 2 is at Cooper's town, Game 3 is at the game of the MiLB prior year champion's ballpark...etc.

These games would all be significantly more interesting than watching the Yankees play Boston in a soccer field in the UK at 1pm.

@KenTremendous and Posnanski discuss this at length, enthusiastically, in the latest Poscast. Games in Latin American hotbeds (DR, PR, Venezuela) especially seem like no-brainers, and I'd sure love to see the Dutch Antilles get a shot.

Here's my idea: they should target having an MLB game take place in every state within a 4-5 year schedule. By my (probably wrong) count, there are MLB teams in 16 states and the District of Columbia... that leaves 34 states to go. (Well, 33 if you consider Iowa got theirs.). Bang out 6-7 of those every year. Murica!

 

[bankshot1]

Having a rotational Field of Dreams in smaller US markets and certain international markets, makes a whole lot more sense then watching the next two teams walking through a cornfield. As posted before, thats really 1-trick pony.

Maybe the Sat-Sunday before the ASB, MLB could have a week-end of FoD games (2 Sat, 1 or 2 Sunday) and then go into the ASG. It might make it a more national celebration of the game.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

There is one big reason why they only did one game at the FoD site, and they haven't done more than one game at any of the other "special" locations: seating capacity. Easy enough to talk the White Sox into giving up a single home game for the kitsch of Iowa cornfields. But three games? At a park with a capacity of ~4000? Instead of selling out 40,000 seats a night for a weekend against the Yankees? Yeah, right.

 

[bankshot1]

I'm assuming the White Sox were comped for giving up a home game against the Yankees. If two or three loss leaders at the gate lead to higher TV ratings (and ad revs for partners and support future increased TV contracts) MLB teams might have a tolerance for selling charm and fewer in game seats for 2-3 games a year.

 

[HoyaSoxa]

How about some fun "Border War" style matchups, like:

• Sox - Yanks in Hartford (Celtics used to play the Knicks in Hartford for regular season games, if I recall correctly)
• Royals - Cards at Mizzou, or Omaha
• Cards - Cubs at U of Illinois
• Rangers - Astros at UT
• ChiSox - Tigers at Notre Dame
• Braves - Rays/Marlins in Jacksonville
• Braves - Nats anywhere in the Carolinas
• Twins - Brewers in Eau Claire/Madison/Wisconsin Dells
• Phillies - Mets at the Jersey Shore

 

[Marciano490]

How about some fun "Border War" style matchups, like:

• Sox - Yanks in Hartford (Celtics used to play the Knicks in Hartford for regular season games, if I recall correctly)
• Royals - Cards at Mizzou, or Omaha
• Cards - Cubs at U of Illinois
• Rangers - Astros at UT
• ChiSox - Tigers at Notre Dame
• Braves - Rays/Marlins in Jacksonville
• Braves - Nats anywhere in the Carolinas
• Twins - Brewers in Eau Claire/Madison/Wisconsin Dells
• Phillies - Mets at the Jersey Shore

This is a great idea. Can even give out a little series trophy like college football.

 

[Max Power]

MLB sent out a survey asking for suggestions for other sites for a game. I said any of the surviving Negro Leagues fields, somewhere in the DR, and Montreal. I don't think the cornfield is going to be especially interesting the second time around. Might as well go somewhere with a different kind of history or where the fans are baseball crazy.

 

[canderson]

MLB does do the Little League Classic in Williamsport annually now. This year it’s the Angels vs Indians.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

I'm assuming the White Sox were comped for giving up a home game against the Yankees. If two or three loss leaders at the gate lead to higher TV ratings (and ad revs for partners and support future increased TV contracts) MLB teams might have a tolerance for selling charm and fewer in game seats for 2-3 games a year.

The gate is a huge issue, and multiple games in a year will kill the ratings bump.

How about letting the minor league teams do this?

 

[Murderer's Crow]

The gate is a huge issue, and multiple games in a year will kill the ratings bump.

How about letting the minor league teams do this?

I think you mitigate this by only doing 1 game per team, not a series.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I think you mitigate this by only doing 1 game per team, not a series.

Maybe the gate issue is mitigated if everyone's doing it, but I think Lose's ratings bump thing is legit. If there are 15 or so of these types of "event" games on the schedule each year, the ratings for national broadcasts will surely take a hit. This Field of Dreams broadcast did a great number because it was a new and unique event. I'm willing to bet that next year's Cubs-Reds game will not match the ratings of this year's game just because it's a been there, done that situation. That's before you factor in the difference between the Cincinnati market and the New York market as well as the likelihood that those teams won't be as good as the Yanks and White Sox are right now.

Also, one thing working against there being more of these "event" games is that teams play in series rather than single games. It's more of a burden on the teams participating to go into a unique spot for a single game. It worked out okay with the Yankees and White Sox because Dyersville isn't that far from Chicago, and the same can work with the Reds and Cubs. But what happens when the FoD matchup moves beyond involving a Chicago team? What if it's the Red Sox and Dodgers? One game there, then travel halfway across the country (either direction) to finish the series? (admittedly an extreme and unlikely example)

I imagine the players are okay with the disruption of the usual series routine for a one-off game every few years. Doing it every year might be a bit much.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Maybe the gate issue is mitigated if everyone's doing it, but I think Lose's ratings bump thing is legit. If there are 15 or so of these types of "event" games on the schedule each year, the ratings for national broadcasts will surely take a hit. This Field of Dreams broadcast did a great number because it was a new and unique event. I'm willing to bet that next year's Cubs-Reds game will not match the ratings of this year's game just because it's a been there, done that situation. That's before you factor in the difference between the Cincinnati market and the New York market as well as the likelihood that those teams won't be as good as the Yanks and White Sox are right now.

Also, one thing working against there being more of these "event" games is that teams play in series rather than single games. It's more of a burden on the teams participating to go into a unique spot for a single game. It worked out okay with the Yankees and White Sox because Dyersville isn't that far from Chicago, and the same can work with the Reds and Cubs. But what happens when the FoD matchup moves beyond involving a Chicago team? What if it's the Red Sox and Dodgers? One game there, then travel halfway across the country (either direction) to finish the series? (admittedly an extreme and unlikely example)

I imagine the players are okay with the disruption of the usual series routine for a one-off game every few years. Doing it every year might be a bit much.

There was an off day between games. I don't really understand the ratings issue, these are regular season games. They aren't losing TV ratings based on where the game is. Am I misunderstanding that concern? This was a Thursday.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

There was an off day between games. I don't really understand the ratings issue, these are regular season games. They aren't losing TV ratings based on where the game is. Am I misunderstanding that concern? This was a Thursday.

Someone made the argument earlier that the loss of gate revenue (40K capacity at Guaranteed Rate Field vs 4K at Dyersville) could be made up by the increased TV ratings for the broadcast (and ratings for the game last week were high) which could increase TV contract revenues and eventually be a wash. The math on that could work for a one-off. It's probably blunted if it's less special because it happens every year, or there a bunch of special event games every year.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Someone made the argument earlier that the loss of gate revenue (40K capacity at Guaranteed Rate Field vs 4K at Dyersville) could be made up by the increased TV ratings for the broadcast (and ratings for the game last week were high) which could increase TV contract revenues and eventually be a wash. The math on that could work for a one-off. It's probably blunted if it's less special because it happens every year, or there a bunch of special event games every year.

Fair concern but the concept has been in action nearly every year with international games. And ironically it's always the big market teams who have to participate and face the greatest risk of lost revenue. I'm certain there is a compensation model to account for it.

 

[bankshot1]

The gate is a huge issue, and multiple games in a year will kill the ratings bump.

How about letting the minor league teams do this?

I was talking about the gate for 2-3 games in total which might involve seat loss of 15,000-20,000 seats a game (most teams don't pull 35,000 to 40,000 for games) times the ave ticket price, and versus the boost from TV ratings, and I suspect the loss if any would be modest to promote the game in under-served markets.

20,000 X $35*= $750K per game

or about $2.5M cost to MLB for 3 games before adding back potential revenues and intangible benefits.

it doesn't sound like a huge cost for a $10B business looking to promote itself.

* https://www.statista.com/statistics/193426/average-ticket-price-in-the-mlb-since-2006/

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Fair concern but the concept has been in action nearly every year with international games. And ironically it's always the big market teams who have to participate and face the greatest risk of lost revenue. I'm certain there is a compensation model to account for it.

Generally the international games are a series at a large capacity venue and they sell out, which might end up being more revenue than a typical home series would generate. No doubt the teams involved are well compensated for giving up home dates (or traveling above and beyond the norm). It's also arguable that the promotional value is higher on those international series (entire countries/continents to tap into) versus a small/underserved baseball marketplace within the US.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Someone made the argument earlier that the loss of gate revenue (40K capacity at Guaranteed Rate Field vs 4K at Dyersville) could be made up by the increased TV ratings for the broadcast (and ratings for the game last week were high) which could increase TV contract revenues and eventually be a wash. The math on that could work for a one-off. It's probably blunted if it's less special because it happens every year, or there a bunch of special event games every year.

Of course they could come up with special uniforms for these games and make the money back on merch!

 

[jon abbey]

Moved this to the main MLB forum.