Islands In The Stream

While we still don't know if and when live sports as we know it will resume, the question remains as to how extreme it will get when the time comes. Sports fans have differing views as to the "value" of airing classic games, especially as the weeks drag on. It is understandable that regional sports networks are showing classic games in a series such as a championship run or themes such as last minute victories. Whether or not people will watch for almost two hours when they know the outcome remains to be seen, but the hours need to be filled.
There is the aspect of the networks offering up their archives for free to explore. It does make sense for sports leagues and organizations to attempt to lure in new fans during this period, since potential fans can use the time to "catch up" on recent history.

For example, MLB-TV has made its archives of regular season games over the past two years available at no cost. During the first two weeks, they reported an 85% increase in views. The NBA and NHL have done the same, with the NFL joining the crowd. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not the NFL season will take place as originally scheduled or not.

The feeling here is that the NFL is doing this in an effort to hold fan interest their way instead of them not being able to watch NFL games and going over to one of the other sports.

NBC Sports Gold has also been streaming its golf programming at no cost, with a promise to do so until "at least" May 17th. They recently added archives including tournaments going back more than 50 years.

This weekend (April 9 - 12) was supposed to have been The Masters. Tournament officials announced earlier this week that they are looking at rescheduling for later in 2020, hinting at the week of November 9th to 15th. Here is where it gets interesting, in terms of extremes.

Suppose live sports are back by that time. That same week in November could possibly have MLB post-season in the event of a delayed season and post-season games played at warm weather neutral sites. Obviously, the NFL and college football would be in full swing. The NBA and NHL "normally" are into their seasons by mid-November.

Although CBS could possibly reschedule its college football games for that Saturday, it is highly unlikely they would dump out of NFL coverage on that Sunday. Putting the final round of The Masters into prime time would not be feasible given the weather and the darkness at that hour.

As is stands without The Masters, having an abundance of major sports, which relies so much on TV revenue, all going on at the same time would be a crunch for the networks, the advertisers, and even for the viewers. There will be a lot to figure out before any of this happens.

Meanwhile, the announcement from Los Angeles has to rank up there among the most ironic sports media happenings ever. After years of frustration among Dodgers fans while roughly 70% of the market could not get the Dodgers telecasts, now comes the announcement that AT&T and DirecTV are carrying SportsNet LA. In the long run, having the option to get the games throughout the market will be great news for Dodgers fans.