Late World Series start times are hurting MLB

Baseball is better and more dramatic than ever. But late World Series start times are pushing fans away, especially the younger generation.

Last night’s World Series game was an instant classic. It’s one of those rare, brilliant moments that we all wait for. This is a game you’ll tell your children and grandchildren about; a game for which you’ll always know exactly where you were when it happened.

I’ll remember where I was: in bed, fast asleep.

The unfortunate reality is that I just can’t stay awake until 1:17 AM EST, at least not on a work night. I’m not alone either. 47 percent of Americans live in the Eastern Standard Time, and 33 percent live in Central Standard Time. The vast majority of these people have to go to work or school early the next day and most simply won’t stay up for the end of a game that lasts more than five hours.

Starting late

World Series games have started around 8:00 PM EST for a long time now. However, it’s well documented that MLB games are lasting longer than ever. Commissioner Rob Manfred has made it a priority to quicken games, but without much success. It’s time for baseball to adjust accordingly to longer games by starting earlier.

Of course, West Coasters won’t agree. According to my Call to the Pen colleague Benjamin Chase,

"West coast friends are irked about LA start times. No one can watch the first half of their home team’s game."

That is indeed problematic. But 80 percent of the country had to stay up past midnight to watch the end of the game, and nearly half had to be awake past 1:00 AM. The most dramatic, memorable parts of a classic game happen in the late innings. It’s better for most baseball fans, and hence better for baseball itself, if the 14 percent of Americans on the West Coast miss the first few innings rather than having most of the nation miss the good stuff.

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This has nothing to do with the Dodgers or any West Coast teams for that matter. World Series game times are determined long before the participants are known. Besides, the Yankees were one game away from winning the ALCS instead of the Astros.

The younger audience

In my day job, I am a third grade teacher. This afforded me the opportunity to do a quick informal survey about yesterday’s game. I asked my students how many watched the World Series. A few hands went up, roughly one-fourth of the class. Then I asked how many saw the end of the game. Exactly zero students watched the entirety of an all-time classic game.

This is a huge problem for MLB. The next generation of sports fans is increasingly disinterested in baseball. Late postseason games might be part of the reason why.

"Kids ages 6-17 made up 7 percent of the TV audience for postseason games a decade ago; in the past couple of years, that figure is down to 4 percent.– Marc Fisher, Washington Post, April 5, 2015"

As of 2015, only 1/25 of postseason viewers were kids! When the next generation grows up, will they buy tickets, jerseys and cable packages? If they aren’t watching now, then it’s not very likely.

When I was 10 years old, not much older than my students, I became enthralled by the 1993 World Series. I wasn’t a fan of either the Blue Jays or the Phillies. My parents let me stay up late to watch Joe Carter touch ’em all at 11:37 PM EST.  That was a baseball moment I’ll never forget.

Not all parents would have let their kids stay up to watch a game that ends at 11:37. It’s not always even necessary; this year’s Game 1 lasted only 2:28. But the best games, the truly special moments that delight fans young and old tend to last much longer. And very few parents will keep their kids up past 1:00 AM on a school night.

Next: Astros, Dodgers providing instant Series classic

This isn’t a cranky geezer complaint about baseball being better back in my day. Baseball is phenomenal right now; in fact, it’s probably better than it’s ever been. The fastballs are faster and the home runs are longer and more plentiful. With the expanded postseason there are more dramatic moments than ever. It’s just unfortunate so many people couldn’t stay up to watch.