Yankees-Red Sox Ratings Show Value Of Big Name MLB Matchups
Major League Baseball made rule changes in order to speed up the pace of play. They expanded the postseason to give more teams a chance at playoff baseball. They even attempted to increase offense with shift bans and larger bases.
All of it has generally worked; attendance is up, pace of play is better, and game times are down. But as television ratings continue to show, there's just no substitution for having the biggest market teams in the national spotlight. And it's a lesson the league could and should learn for October baseball.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees played at Yankee Stadium in June, ratings on Fox were gigantic. By several metrics, it was the most watched regular season baseball game in several years.
READ: Dodgers, Yankees Ratings Show How MLB's Postseason Format Hurts Itself
On Sunday, those same Yankees and the Boston Red Sox played on Sunday Night Baseball, and once again, fans tuned in in huge numbers. The largest audience for that time window in two and a half years, as a matter of fact.
If you look closely, there are some very obvious lessons to learn from these two television metrics.
May 22, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates with center fielder Aaron Judge (99) after hitting his second home run of the game in the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
MLB Needs Big Name Teams In The Playoffs
What do the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers have in common? They're three of the biggest "name" teams in Major League Baseball.
For a league struggling to maintain national relevance compared to the NFL, these ratings are exactly the trajectory they want to see. There's just one problem; the postseason format the league has adopted has made it harder and harder for these types of teams to end up making deep playoff runs.
This isn't to say that every season, the World Series should exclusively be Yankees-Dodgers. But given the randomness inherent in having three wild card teams, it's a near certainty that MLB will be faced with significantly more matchups like Rangers-Diamondbacks. Small market 80-84 win teams now have a clear pathway to the World Series. Because most postseason series are 60-40 to 55-45 type advantages for the superior team. And those types of odds select for more chaos.
Sure, the Dodgers spent a fortune in the offseason. But all that bought them was a 5-6% advantage in a playoff series.
So MLB needs ratings, it needs big-name teams to get those ratings, and it has a playoff format that makes it harder to achieve either of those outcomes. What can be done about it?
Give teams that finish in the top two in their leagues a one game advantage in their first series. Eliminate travel days for wild card series winning teams. Expand the NLDS and ALDS to seven games. None of those changes will make it so that the "best" team in each league is properly rewarded, but they will make it more probable that teams actually trying to win will have a higher percentage chance of making the World Series.
Some years that'll be the Baltimore Orioles, some years it'll be the Royals or Diamondbacks. But some years, they'll be the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox. And that's a good thing for the business of baseball.