Division Series Game Times

[Gwreck]

Saturday, October 5:
DET/HOU at CLE: 1:08 PM
NYM/MIL at PHI: 4:08 PM
KC/BAL at NYY: 6:38 PM
ATL/SD at LAD: 8:38 PM

Sunday, October 6:
NYM/MIL at PHI: 4:08 PM
ATL/SD at LAD: 8:38 PM

[Gwreck]

No announcement yet for NLDS games 3 and 4 on Tuesday/Wednesday, but there could be afternoon games at Citi Field next week, especially Wednesday.

[Gwreck]

Just announced:

Tue 10/8
PHI at NYM 5:08 PM
LAD at SD 9:08 PM

Wed 10/9
CLE at DET 3:08 PM
PHI at NYM 5:08 PM
NYY at KC 7:08 PM
LAD at SD 9:08 PM

Thu 10/10
CLE at DET 6:08 PM
NYY at KC 8:08 PM

Fri 10/11
NYM at PHI 4:08 PM
SD at LAD 8:08 PM

Sat 10/12
DET at CLE 4:38 PM
KC at NYY 8:08 PM

Game 4/5 times subject to change if LA/SD is a sweep/ends in 4.

[Fman99]

Hate MLB and the networks for not making all of these games prime time and just letting viewers watch their team.

[Lefty Specialist]

I also hate how the Yankees are ALWAYS in prime time. Everybody else just has to adjust.

[Frayed Knot]

I also hate how the Yankees are ALWAYS in prime time.

Except when the Cowboys are playing.

[Fman99]

After the past couple of weeks is there any doubt that Mets postseason baseball is just more exciting and better than any other team's postseason? Shouldn't all the Mets games be the prime time games?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

MLB is thrilled that Ohtani finally made the postseason. They are definitely rooting for a LAD-MFY WS, with marketing likening Ohtani & Judge. The World Series last year was one of the lowest rated ever.

[Gwreck]

Part of the problem is that MLB sells the AL and NL playoff rights separately, and then can’t force one network into two afternoon games.

There’s little doubt that Mets/Phillies and Dodgers/Padres are the most compelling matchups, and yes, both would likely outdraw the Yankees versus Royals. But Fox has both NL games, and Turner gets an evening AL game.

Now, on Tuesday, when it’s NL-only, I cannot figure out why the Mets had to play at 5. With the west coast game starting at 9, Mets should be starting at 6. (How could a 5:00 start time out-draw a 6:00 PM start time?)

[batmagadanleadoff]

Now, on Tuesday, when it’s NL-only, I cannot figure out why the Mets had to play at 5. With the west coast game starting at 9, Mets should be starting at 6. (How could a 5:00 start time out-draw a 6:00 PM start time?)

Because Shohei Ohtani might be the greatest athlete in the history of American sports. Period. Better than Ali. Better than Jordan. Better than The Babe. And this year, fans only got to see half of Ohtani. And so the games are being presented to make Ohtani the showcase of the playoffs. The networks are counting on viewers wanting to see Ohtani in prime time, in the playoffs, more than anything else. A 5:00 Mets start makes it that much less likely that the end of the Mets game overlaps with the Dodgers pre-game show.

[Frayed Knot]

As mentioned, the two networks split the games by league [this year it's TBS for AL, FOX/FS1 for NL] and then they decide how to schedule them.

It always makes the most sense to put the west coast games in the later slot although they have the leeway to NOT do it that way if they think it'll get them better tatings flipped.

On the NL side FOX is only too happy to follow the logical path and put the Dodgers with the bonus of Ohtani in the prime time slot. And when one series is East vs East and the other W-v-W it's a no-brainer.

On the AL/TBS side there are no ALW teams still alive but if it were, say, Seattle vs either CLE or DET then guess when Mariner fans would see their games? That's right, at 1:30 local time (home and away) so the prime slot can be filled with pinstripes.

[Gwreck]

On the AL/TBS side there are no ALW teams still alive but if it were, say, Seattle vs either CLE or DET then guess when Mariner fans would see their games? That's right, at 1:30 local time (home and away) so the prime slot can be filled with pinstripes.

To be fair, there are potential AL matchups that would force the Yankees into the afternoon. For example, a Houston-Boston series would do the trick.

Makes plenty of business sense that they’re (almost) always going to go with the biggest audience in the best slots — this is the rare situation because the two biggest potential audiences are two matchups in the same league.

[Frayed Knot]

Despite being a top contender for most of a decade now, Houston gets dumped into the least desirable time slots every year, including this one. Yeah, playing Boston instread of KC might help (although the Sox are currently devoid of star power) but I doubt enough to push the Yanx to an earlier slot.

Mike Francesa used to say that the worst big cities for pro sports were (in no particular order) Atlanta, Miami, and Houston. And while big Mike was wrong about a lot of things (not always right but never in doubt) I don't think he was here. And even if that's not a demonstrable fact if that's the perception among media types the perception becomes a reality, at least their reality.

Anyway, given the chance, networks are going to feature the Yanquis every time for the same reason, as I joked above, that they're going to pick the Cowboys.

[Gwreck]

Houston played division series games in primetime last year (against Minnesota).

Who is Mike Francesa?

[Frayed Knot]

Houston played division series games in primetime last year (against Minnesota).

Only Game 2 was prime time.
Game 4 was 6PM so maybe that counts too, but 1 & 3 were mid-afternoon. And that's when the other series was TEX/BAL. Not NYY, not BOS, not Ohtani/Trout

The point being, the networks aren't programming based on which teams are most successful but rather on who draws eyeballs both within the markets involved and, maybe more importantly, outside of the markets involved, meaning that they'll opt for the pinstripes every time while the likes of Houston wait for table scraps.

[Frayed Knot]

So the AL sked for this round goes like this:
Game - Off Day - Game - Off Day - Game - Game - Off Day - Game
Three days off in an eight day span. Just like the regular season.

[duan]

Hate MLB and the networks for not making all of these games prime time and just letting viewers watch their team.

spare a thought for your EST+5 hours friend who's liking the fact that he can watch the playoff games - have got a good bit of all of them so far.

[Fman99]

Hate MLB and the networks for not making all of these games prime time and just letting viewers watch their team.

spare a thought for your EST+5 hours friend who's liking the fact that he can watch the playoff games - have got a good bit of all of them so far.

Fair enough.

[Frayed Knot]

Also, MLB isn't going to subdivide their audience by putting a majority of their games up against one another, nor would the networks that paid big bucks for them agree to such an arrangement.

Of the eight teams still playing there are two in the Pacific time zone, one in Central, and five working on EDT. So that's essentially three games on pretty much simultaneously and the fourth on at a time too late for the most of the country.
That's not showing your product, it's closer to hiding it.

[duan]

suspect my luck has run out on this regard.
Still was nice to see them win last night and not be up till 3 am!

[bmfc1]

Not official yet but… Game 1: 8 PM. Game 2: 4:30 PM.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Really? A game that may feature New York and Los Angeles is going to yield prime time to a game that may feature Kansas City and Detroit?

[Fman99]

Really? A game that may feature New York and Los Angeles is going to yield prime time to a game that may feature Kansas City and Detroit?

Very much impacted by what happens in the KC/NY series (and the LA/SD series too), to be certain. I don't think they bump Mets vs. Dodgers from prime time for any non-Yankee matchup in the ALCS.

[bmfc1]

Perhaps it’s because of Monday Night Football.

[Frayed Knot]

I suspect that the contracts for the two networks guarantee each a set number of prime time games. So it's probably just as simple as the day the NL plays Game #2 falling on TBS's turn to get the money slot.

Now that Turner & Fox are down to one series each rather than two, they can't just arbitrarily swap times.