MLB USA

There’s been a small contention here, and conjecture elsewhere, about possibly the Cubs, underneath the arriving brand brand brand new ownership, competence apply to the city of Chicago to shift the bidding which right away boundary them to thirty home night games.

I did a small investigate in to comparisons with what alternative teams do; the following list is what any group has scheduled for 2009 at home (note: there were a handful of TBD diversion times, often Saturdays and Sundays, which for this role have been insincere to be day games), listed in sequence by series of night games:

Rangers: 67 night, fourteen day
Astros: 62 night, nineteen day
Marlins: 62 night, nineteen day
Braves: 61 night, twenty day
Rays: 61 night, twenty day
Red Sox: 61 night, twenty day
Orioles: 60 night, twenty-one day
Dodgers: 59 night, twenty-two day
Padres: 58 night, twenty-three day
Indians: 58 night, twenty-three day
Nationals: 58 night, twenty-three day
Phillies: 57 night, twenty-four day
Pirates: 57 night, twenty-four day
Mariners: 57 night, twenty-four day
Angels: 56 night, twenty-five day
Royals: 55 night, twenty-six day
Reds: 55 night, twenty-six day
D'backs: 55 night, twenty-six day
Twins: 54 night, twenty-seven day
Mets: 54 night, twenty-seven day
Rockies: 53 night, twenty-eight day
Brewers: 53 night, twenty-eight day
Cardinals: 53 night, twenty-eight day
Giants: 52 night, twenty-nine day
A's: 52 night, twenty-nine day
White Sox: 52 night, twenty-nine day
Tigers: 49 night, 32 day
Blue Jays: 48 night, 33 day
Yankees: 46 night, 35 day
Cubs: thirty night, 51 day

The normal series of night games per group together with the Cubs is 55; incompatible the Cubs’ total, the alternative twenty-nine teams normal 56, a small some-more than 2/3 of their home schedule. Some teams, similar to the Rangers and Marlins, simply can’t fool around most day games in the summer heat, which is given they have a small some-more impassioned day-game total; at the alternative finish of the list have been some-more traditional, old-line franchises similar to the Tigers and Yankees (the Toronto sum of usually 48 night games is a bit of an anomaly). It’s usually partly about preference for Cubs players (more on this below).

Here’s what this contention is unequivocally about. It’s not about diversion assemblage — the Cubs played to 97.7% of genius in 2007 and 99.1% in 2008 — and it’s not unequivocally about the neighborhood, either, given when pull came to shove, the Cubs did get their approach when the 2002 bidding superseded the strange 1988 law which at the time singular the Cubs to eighteen home night games for the initial fifteen seasons.

What this is all about is TV ad income and ratings; as someone in the TV business, I can verbalise to that. Obviously, some-more people have been accessible as eyeballs for TV at night than during the afternoon. Thus, ad rates have been aloft for night games. Given the need for one some-more income sources, it creates judicious clarity for the Cubs to enlarge their night diversion total, quite if they have been going to, as has been rumored, try to begin a YES Network character Cubs TV channel. So let’s take a demeanour at a small of the dilemmas they might encounter.

Point: More night games in April, May and Sep meant which some-more family groups (and college students) could attend, in the time when schools have been in session.

Counterpoint: Playing some-more night games in April, May and Sep equates to personification some-more games in colder weather, reduction gainful to great prolongation out of your players.

Point: More night games in the summer months have been simpler on players, given you fool around fewer games in impassioned heat, as good as creation it simpler returning from prolonged highway trips.

Counterpoint: Many people transport during the summer and do not stay home in the evenings to watch TV given it’s so good out.

Point: Related to the prior point, the Cubs spasmodic have had to fool around Friday home day games after Thursday night highway games, given the bidding doesn’t assent Friday night home games; this has spasmodic forced players to nap in the clubhouse.

Counterpoint: There isn’t one. This is a current complaint, and one thing the Cubs need to ask for when they ask for some-more night dates.

Point: Many teams fool around Saturday night games, but the Cubs have been taboo by bidding from personification Saturday nights.

Counterpoint: I do not think the Cubs will get anywhere here. In a small ways, it doesn’t have clarity to publish some-more Saturday night game, given Saturday nights have been typically low-rated TV nights, when most people have been out and not home examination TV. Second, most of the alternative Wrigleyville businesses — quite Metro Chicago, which books a lot of song acts on Saturday nights, would have their commercial operation harm by Cub Saturday night games (parking issues, especially).

So the bottom line is, I hold which once brand brand brand new tenure takes over, they should and will apply to the city to rectify the bidding and concede some-more night games. The subject is, how most more? I think fluctuating the series to 40 — half the report — would be a satisfactory concede in between everybody who has a interest in this issue. Further, Friday nights should be permitted, as prolonged as those Fridays follow highway outing games on Thursdays (it shouldn’t even indispensably have to be a Thursday night — infrequently a prolonged moody behind after a Thursday afternoon diversion can be only as debilitating). With the triangle office building expected to be assembled when brand brand brand new tenure takes over, on condition which the parking spaces which the Cubs betrothed when the bleachers were expanded, which should assistance to palliate any area concerns.

40 night dates should be sufficient to assistance the Cubs with any group issues, yield 10 some-more dates’ value of night TV ad revenue, prove neighbors’ concerns (40 nights a year is a small reduction than 11% of the monthly calendar year), and still keep sufficient daytime dates to lift on the Cubs’ prolonged daytime ball tradition.

The diversion thread for today’s open precision diversion vs. the Diamondbacks will be up at noon CST.