DO YOU CARE ABOUT BASEBALL?
I'm not going to dwell on the health of the sport, MLB has been around since 1903, it's a staple of sport in this country and it's going to ebb and flow in regards to popularity. Plus, the league is making more money now than ever before. I'm not worried about baseball. But, I am intrigued by how interested you are, specifically in this city when it comes to baseball. I figure with the 2nd half of the season set to get underway here in just a couple days, this is the perfect time to have this discussion.
And again, this is specifically for a city like Orlando. The cities in this country with baseball franchises are interested in their teams, and if those teams are good, what you're seeing is an increase in ratings within those markets, no surprise, right? For instance, Yankees ratings are up 10% from last year on the YES Network. Again, no surprise there. The Yanks are a 62 win team with a stacked lineup and are battling the Red Sox for 1st place in the East. A city like Baltimore is less interested than ever, as the Orioles are the worst team in baseball, and their fans have given up. Orioles TV ratings are down a whopping 50% from last season.
Orlando though. I can't figure you out. Maybe it's because we're such a melting pot, or because we don't have a baseball team to call our own, but as a radio host in this town, I can tell you - I have no clue how much baseball you want to hear, and which teams you want to hear about. So, you tell me. What do you care about this time of year, heading into the 2nd half of the baseball season?
- Your team and your team only?
- A race for the playoffs?
- Nothing in particular?
- You don't care?
To make matters even more confusing, I can't find one shred of regular season data for how much baseball is viewed in the Orlando market. Which means the mystery remains, and I need you more than ever. For some insight, I've attached comments from our facebook page where I asked this very question, take a look...