MLB Draft Becoming A Must-See Event

Thanks in part to MLB Network’s impressive coverage, the 2012 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft took a major

step forward in becoming must-see-TV.  In years past the draft coverage was limited to wire reports and post-draft news articles.  However, it seems this year’s draft was approaching the level most fans have come to expect with the NFL and NBA drafts.

With the availability of information on high school players, the coverage of the NCAA Baseball season improving every year, and sites like Seedlings to Stars springing up everywhere to provide detailed analysis on the game’s future stars, fans have a reason to get excited about players that they may never see play a game in their favorite team’s uniform.  The odds of making it from draft day to a Major League roster are slim, but first round picks have the highest odds, and the excitement during last night’s first round coverage was palpable.

Whether it was the surprise of the Astros taking Carlos Correa number one overall, Courtney Hawkins’ back-flipping excitement on stage, or the simple fact that Major League Baseball invited a few prospects to attend the event and walk up on stage to be greeted and cheered, the 2012 MLB Draft had the feel of a major event around the league.  Allowing young first rounders to attend the event was a major deviation from years past in which no prospects would attend the draft day festivities (if they could be called festivities).

Despite all of baseball’s flaws, despite the short-sighted management that has often been associated with Commissioner Bud Selig, and despite the NFL’s ever-increasing popularity, Major League Baseball is taking steps in the right direction.  One of their products, MLB.tv, while still limited, is an example of the advanced media department seizing on an opportunity missed by the other major sports.  Continued promotion of the All-Star Game, the World Series, and even Opening Day have helped the sport usher in new fans and increase the ferocity with which current fans cheer on their players and teams.  This year’s MLB Draft was just another example of the sport heading in the right direction.

According to an MLB.com report, Bud Selig hopes to improve on the day even further.  “I hope we can work on that,” he said referring to the number of prospects in attendance. “The more people we can have here, the better I like it. Five is a good start, but we need to do better than that.”

And there is little doubt they will do better.  With the exponential growth in popularity of prospect watching among fans of small-market and large-market teams alike, Major League Baseball will have a built-in market for events like the draft.  In addition, MLB Network, the official network of Major League Baseball, will continue to grow and will be more widely available across cable and satellite providers.  As this happens, their draft day coverage will continue to exceed expectations and lead to a jump in the draft’s popularity.  Much of the event falls on the production value of its coverage, and MLB Network has done a fantastic job so far.

Enjoy the continued coverage of the three day first-year player draft.  As the league grows in popularity, we should see this event grow to levels we all never thought possible.  From the early days of baseball in which players were scouted, bought, and sold, to the modern era in which the competitive balance of the game relies heavily on the draft, baseball is always changing.  This year’s MLB Draft has proven that change can be good, and the sport is heading in the right direction.