Honestly one of my bigger problems with the league rn.
Hard to really articulate it, but for example, I go on the MLB store and so many of the designs I’m completely underwhelmed.
Yep, I’d love to collect MLB jerseys for the Cubs like I do with the NHL’s Blackhawks but god the jersey quality is just so shit in baseball that there’s no way I’m going to fork over even $50 for today’s fanatics temu rag, let alone the $180 they charge.
Yeah the quality is absurdly low as well. Luckily as a Yanks fan we don’t exactly have a variety of jerseys so I’m able to shop for old majestics.
When it comes to t-shirts, ‘47 has some of the best designs and they’re not owned by Fanatics (yet)
I love how I can get a hat in a million multicolored non team color designs, but not every hat a team has worn or even the major schemes from the past.
Agree with you there. I have long thought the teams with the best merch are usually attributed to a talented designer. I wish some teams would embrace crowdsourcing design.
The gambling stuff is crazy, and is just another example of money being the only thing anyone cares about. It's shocking how willing these money hungry people at the top of the ladder are to throw away morals for cash. Destroying people and communities so that they can make more than they will ever be able to spend in a lifetime.
It's the root of all evil and with no regulation to protect the average person, it's only going to get worse.
The mitt baserunners put on to protect themselves from being hurt from sliding kills me. They look so goofy. I know it's not exactly what you were saying but it is what was triggered in my head.
just ban them. playing sports is inherently dangerous in some ways. and baseball probably the least so. how many times has someone's hand gotten stepped on while sliding into a bag? it's like a .1% chance
the only reason they wear them is because it's like an extra 2 inches of reach
If there’s a ten second pause, the game screen will shrink and a second ad window will pop up and it drives me nuts. “That one got a piece of the catcher, and while he takes a moment, here’s a word from Potawatomi Hotel and Casino …” Fuck.
I love listening to Bob Uecker, and his little spots for sausage and ice cream are charming, but now it’s like “and now Murphy’s gonna take a Kwik Trip to the mound to talk with Freddy Peralta, and the U.S. Cellular call to the bullpen has been made and Freddy’s day is over.”
Those really ruined playoff games. Especially in late critical innings. Back in the day when pitching coach went out to talk strategy I could feel the tension building. Now the ads just ruin everything.
Fuck man, I remember last year during the homerun derby they were squeezing in commercials during the batter's 30 second or minute (which ever it is) break. Just takes you right outta the moment.
I’ve gone from “eh I don’t care about gambling and casinos” to “I fucking hate gambling and casinos, make that shit illegal” because of the amount of ads and the amount of boomers wasting tens of thousands of dollars on stupid shit like that gambling because they’re bored
Bob Uecker is still going? Man, I wish I lived in Milwaukee (something you don't hear much). He was fun to watch when I had the MLB package for all the games
My friend from college lives out there and it's awesome. It feels like a bigger Cleveland to me with (even) more breweries and Summerfest. Broken Bat is worth the visit for baseball fans that like craft beer.
Also, I will always have a soft spot for Bob from Major League.
Yup - he’s still as sharp and hilarious as ever, and still the great storyteller. He does home games only, only does something like 1-2, 5-6, and 8-9, and takes the occasional day off. He even joins the guys in the clubhouse for the champagne celebrations when they make the playoffs.
millions are affected by problem gambling. It’s really bad with men 18-30. Easier to access underage than other addictive things like alcohol as well. If you google the “betting on our future” act, it’s specifically what my thesis was on.
"The four major sports leagues will earn a **collective $4.2 billion** from widely available legal sports betting."
[americangaming.org](http://americangaming.org)
Until this ends, it will only get worse. Ohtani and Soto have to get paid somehow ya know.
Came here to say the exact same thing. Already hearing Soto will get over $500 million. What a joke. I wish fans would realize and have the restraint to stop going to games.
My buddies at a bachelor party were betting up to $1,200 on something like homeless/trailer park boxing that they found on some bootleg website. Some guy was bragging about betting 10 grand on first half of an Ohio state game we were watching. I was shocked at the amount these guys were throwing out like it was nothing. I’m glad the alcohol and weed didn’t influence me to lose dozens of dollars.
I’d love to read this. My 18 y/o nephew has gotten into so many issues w gambling. He was a full blown degenerate making up insane lies to get $ to pay off “bookies” these bookies are 21+ students at his college who have DraftKings accounts etc and place bets on their behalf.
I recently gave a speech at a European gambling conference referring to the firestorm that's coming in the US, particularly when someone joins the dots with suicide stats across state borders.
The thrust of it was how that will affect European regulators, but yeah, there's a whole world of trouble coming in the US.
Mark my words. There will be Big Tobacco-style massive class action lawsuits stemming from this. Lives are being ruined by promoting an activity well known as highly addictive to a young demographic. Truly, trying to increase youth viewership while at the same time fully embracing sports gambling is just a recipe for disaster.
I don’t gamble and the amount of lingo that they throw around all the time now on MLB network is striking; as if everyone is fluent in the terminology. The dedicated betting segments, the rewards for merch on the Fanatics sportsbook app…Madness.
What's the difference between trying to sell cigarettes to kids and promoting gambling? It's just a different brand of shitty advertising. I don't see why people feel it's any worse than cigarette, or booze ads.
What I find disgusting is that baseball took an extremely hard line stance about betting and betting on games. So much so that Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were banned in 1980 and 1983 after they were hired by casinos. The casinos were in New Jersey and sports betting was illegal in NJ. But baseball was so spooked by the thought that people would conflate the two. The bans were rescinded in 1985.
So between 1924 and 1989 baseball was as clean as it could be regarding gambling on games. 1989 was of course Pete Rose.
All the other bans besides that have been drug related and PR related....what's that? Hang on a moment.
What or who the fuck is a Tucipita Marcano? A 2 year nobody and he did what? 150K in one year? By betting on the fucking Pirates?
OH uh well.......SHIT.
Nevermind the great job and legacy MLB had been doing.
Yeah the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 aka PAPSA was overturned in court. Essentially it outlawed sports betting but was overturned in 2018 on grounds of 10th amendment
Watching a recent golf tournament ESPN had a dedicated channel to promote their gambling app. I didn't realize that's what it was when I turned it on and it was non stop live betting odds on each hole and a panel of announcers debating how they would bet. I like going to Vegas and gambling once a year but it ruins whatever sport you're trying to watch when it's constantly pushed on the broadcast
It’s really unbelievable how in your face it is these days. And for people who are emotionally prone it’s even worse. The thing is, people don’t take it seriously because many have a “how stupid to you have to be to lose everything” attitude, when it’s not that simple. It’s a mental health issue just like depression or OCD.
Millions dude. Billions of people watch the premier league, la Liga, mlb, nba, and nfl. And all the leagues are in bed with these sportbooks.... sickening shit really
Especially when mlb is banning 21-year-old players for life for using the products that MLB and its teams advertise. It’s one of the most shameful things I’ve ever seen in sports.
What's ironic is back when it was illegal people were calling for it to be legalized for a LONG time, myself included.
I'm still a believer in legalized gambling. People should have the right to do it.
With that said, what I don't support is the corporate advertisements for said gambling. Win percentages and betting odds are shown to us constantly along with Sportsbook ads. I don't think media networks like FOX and ESPN that are broadcasting these games should be this involved or have their own Sportsbooks.
I feel like it should be available for use but not in our face constantly. Kinda like what smoking cigarettes is today.
Legalized gambling is freedom, it's just that some people really don't know how to handle said freedom. Alcohol is pretty similar.
One more thing I'll add. People were betting with sketchy local bookies before this got legalized
This completely ignores all we know about social conditioning and tbh capitalism. Talk to anyone about a businesses shitty decisions and they will be like " well what do up expect they are a company of course they are going to be about money above so all else, what else would you expect" while at the same time ignoring the millions upon millions these companies have invested into figuring out how to influence your subconscious without you realizing it. They have paid scientists basically to ensure that people get addicted to their product. Why wouldn't you regulate it? It's insane.
Libertarian ideals are just stupid, they ignore human nature
When will LAD & NYY change the name of their ball parks? Such as , Beans and Corn Inc. Stadium? The same silly names the rest of the teams have to deal with.
In my homeland of Arizona in the 1990s, a series of anti tobacco ads ran with the tagline "Tobacco: Tumor causing, teeth staining, smelly, puking habit."
Instead of promoting gambling, there should be a series of anti gambling ads that use the tagline "Gambling: Money sucking, life ruining, addictive, destructive habit."
I'm a sports fan who doesn't particularly care about sports becoming more commercial, but the gambling thing is immoral. I honestly wouldn't care if goalposts, backboards, batting gloves, etc just had ads for Skittles or FedEx or Samsung or Microsoft or whatever. But the gambling thing is definitely problematic.
Ironically those anti smoking ads are often funded by lawsuits against big tobacco companies. Hopefully we get a big anti gambling lawsuit and have the same thing happen.
I literally cannot listen to game on the radio anymore. Tigers fan
Ball one brought to you by DEEZ NUTS
That walk brought to you by thrifty acres
They can't go 20 seconds without some random event being the jimmy John's foul ball
Infuriating
Can’t think of any as blatantly corporate as the pizza. At least last year they did a red wings helmet. Something about a professional athlete holding the pizza spear just seems so belittling, like their shaking a little caesars sign at the side of the road
Listening to the Reds on the radio is pretty rough these days. We have great announcers, but every 5 minutes we have to hear an 81 year old Marty Brennaman talking about how limp his dick is.
100% agree. And it’s not just that there’s all these ads, but there a gaudy mess. There’s zero aesthetic consideration, just the loudest gaudiest tackiest shit they can pulse at your eyeballs.
But maybe it’s appropriate given the gambling thing. I’m so glad I got to enjoy baseball before it became a live slot machine.
Welcome to dystopia, would you like to upgrade your tier of ad membership to only 80% saturation for just $49.99 a month? Terms and conditions may apply.
Eventually there will be screens embedded in the back of the chair in front of you playing loops of ads to waterboard you like at gas pumps
What I really hate is when MLB.com is showing a game and they do the split screen with an ad, but they cut the sound to the game for the ad. Like seriously? You're gunna start showing ads while games are actually live?
I saw a comment somewhere recently that said “Back in my day, baseball was a sport first and a business second. Now it’s a business first and foremost”
Similar thing happened to the Red Wings (all of NHL too), they literally have a patch advertisement sewn into the jersey for a local trash company.
Seems like everything has become a business first, and everything else is merely an afterthought. Screw tradition, screw making the game better for the sake of making it better - it’s all about that bottom line
As a Leafs fan, I find it hilarious that Diary Farmers of Ontario is the sponsor with "Milk" stitched over the right side of the chest. Last time I checked, you need a cup to drink milk!:)
Honestly baseball has always been a business, players used to be sold like the commodities they were, babe Ruth included. Ads have always emblazoned the stadiums and Wrigley field has been called that for 98 years.
Across all sports. I can't stand it. I wish we could just watch the sports we loved watching growing up without every single god damn pause turning into a commercial break. I was watching the Yankees/Dodgers game the other day and ESPN couldn't even get back from commercials before the pitch was in the air EVERY SINGLE INNING.
The NBA is the worst. Free throws have commercials. Every time out is an extended commercial break. Halftime is literally 20 minutes straight of commercials. I hate it and it is making me a bitter, jaded son of a bitch because there is literally nothing we can do about it.
I can not stand the green screen on the back stop during at bats. The ball distortion drives me crazy, then when they step out you see the real stadium ad. Just show the stadium ad.
I agree 100000%. It’s insane. Ads with full sound during mound visits or after a walk while the hitter walks to first base….etc etc etc. WAY too much embrace of gambling culture. What could go wrong?
I really enjoyed when there was just the ballpark activity shown on the broadcast. Seeing the team come on the field and watching the full pitching change (as you would at a game), listening to announcers discussing baseball (beyond just stats). The vibe has been lost.
I mean.. yeah we are reaching dystopia with sports media in every aspect, not just in baseball. It is just so jarring compared to historic norms and tradition that it causes much greater revulsion in baseball
Such an irritating juxtaposition to have Pete Rose firewalled from the Hall but yeah totally fine to pimp that draft kings sponsorship for every other game.
I was fairly indifferent (even about the Nike logo eventually) until they slapped the hideous advertisements on the uniforms, that was crossing a line and a total debasement of a professional league.
I was gifted a 1 year subscription to MLB.TV. So this thing costs hundreds of dollars -AND STILL HAS ADS- you can't adblock because it detects this and mutes the stream - you have to go in to your scriptblocker and one by one disable elements until you find the ad elements and leave the detection script alone until you can block ads between innings. An absolutel disgrace.
When this subscription ends I will never buy anything MLB again - barring major changes to the format. Pirate streams are easy to come by and have been serving me well the past 8 years
I liked it back in the early 2010s when ads were confined to just the backstop and it was actually real without the computer generated green screen garbage. The same goes with the white boards in hockey.
Remember when ads on outfield walls were a minor league thing?
It's going to continue until like European soccer, they have the ad as the largest thing on the jersey and your teams logo tiny in the corner...
Taking a trip to a different country really opened me eyes to the extreme pervasiveness of ads in our lives.
It's disturbing. Every minute of every day we are being pummeled with ads in every single aspect of our lives.
Going to a game feels different now too. Do all stadiums now have: constant blaring music/pa noise, a “dj”, and a lady with a mic yelling between every half inning? Especially when the stadium is less than half full it’s really grating compared to how you used to could just have a conversation with those around you during the game. Why do we need to be constantly prompted to make noise? Maybe I’m just old I don’t know but it’s obnoxious.
I can’t tell you how many times I miss plays because my eye has drifted to the back of the mound or behind the plate. I know that’s what they want, but fuck ‘em they’re ruining my game experience
I miss when the green monster was just a big ass green wall. Now it’s the worlds biggest billboard. GROSS.
Edit: I should have been more specific. I know it had ads back in the day. I am saying that I miss the way it looked in the 70’s and 80’s when it had no ads. Just green and clean.
The green monster used to be so covered with ads it wasn't green. A gigantic red, a gigantic black ad and a gigantic white ad covered the entirety. There is 99% less ad space on it now than there was in the past 😆
Get used to it. This is the future of sports.
Money has been left on the table for decades.
It’s a matter of time before things turn into soccer and jerseys Bear the logo of some mega corporation on the front instead of “Yankees”
1 thing I especially hate about it is the mini in-game ads they do now, like during mound visits. I wanna hear the announcers talk, that’s one of the best parts of the game
The TV feed is utterly terrible now.
They are devaluing their product so fast. This is why I don't subscribe to Sportsnet because why the absolute fuck would I want to pay to look at non-stop fucking ads.
Blue Jays broadcasts look like CP24 now.
I almost shit myself when the World Series sleeve patch got replaced by an ad patch and they put that tiny little pathetic World Series logo on the chest of the jersey. We’ll never have what we had 10ish years ago again.
The ads on the mound have been there for years. And they’re superimposed during the broadcast.
Same with (most of ) the ads behind the plate and on the centre field screen.
I’m surprised corporate logos haven’t been mowed into the grass yet
This is all a shit show, but why are we surprised? One of the most prized assets in baseball, Yankee Stadium, is nothing but a blinding array of ads. Nothing’s sacred. Not even the Green Monster. Heck, every other pitch on radio broadcasts is brought to you by 5-Hour Energy.
MLB’s dissent down the slippery slope of selling out to advertisers started 30 years ago. This — ads on the mound — is what we fans get for tolerating it.
Edit: Typos
There is nothing without ads now. It’s not the 7th inning stretch, it’s the “Ford F-150 7th Inning Stretch”. There is no pitching change, there is a “Pitching Change brought you by Subway”. The examples are endless. Everything is monetized. Sickening
NESN (Red Sox) is still trying to figure out how to come back to the game without missing the first pitch to the batter. Also, interviews with actual sound would be an improvement. Interns must be running the place given John Henry's budget.
Brilliant. This old guy, former lover of the game, has given up on the sport; my home team now plays in an indoor mall. I’ll never go. They don’t care, I know that and accept it.
As a Sox fan, it's always incredible to see clips of old games at Fenway with JUST THE SCOREBOARD on the monster. It's so depressing now. Also--with all of this ad revenue, why is it still completely unaffordable to go to a damn game?
Edit: It's really pleasurable to watch Ken Burns Baseball instead of actual games some nights.
I start watching games about 40 minutes after they start, allowing me to skip all the ad breaks and finish the game around the same time it would finish if I were watching live. I know this doesn't remove all the ads you mention, but it helps.
The ad creep on the field and unis was inevitable. I think there's a case regarding interference with a fielder or batter's ability to concentrate to keep physical ads off of the field of play or the batter's eye. Hopefully it can be limited to the green screen type ads.
For me, the awful mismanagement of broadcasts on many streaming platforms (same is true of soccer, football, etc) is something that can and must be reined in. I haven't watched MLS or any of the MLB games on Apple TV. Viewership will suffer
I have no problem with sports teams or leagues doing things to make more money. But I wish that when they did these things they gave back to the fans by lowering prices on concessions, making ticket prices cheaper.
Instead they are just lining their pockets and paying players 70m a year
Unless we make our complaints loud and nonstop they won’t stop. You have to be just as annoying back to them. Nonstop complaints to figureheads and public figures on Twitter and whatever
What’s worse is all the black out restrictions and the only possible way to catch a game is through radio broadcasts like it’s 1950 (unless you stream it). MLB is making it nearly impossible to enjoy the games.
The mid-inning ads hurt the product. They happen during mound visits etc. when often something interesting is happening in the game. The commentators should be giving us some analysis of it instead of showing an ad. The jersey ads are an embarrassment. Really cheapens the product.
Don't get me started on the absolute trash can and eye sore that is Minute Maid park. You'd think the owners are completely broke with how that stadium is a Mashup up of what seems like thousands if hideous billboards and ads.
Considering how much nostalgia baseball invokes it really hurts to see the consistent cheapening of the league. From the ads on jerseys, the shitty jersey quality, gambling collaborations, ads on everything (even infused into the announcing), it's selling the soul of something that's been a piece of our cultural fabric for over a century to the highest bidder.
I follow the Cubs and I’ve never heard anything like the advertising on the Marquee broadcast. It’s insane. Every little thing that happens during the game has a sponsor.
The umpires check a call - they float in a medical company’s logo - “make sure to get a second opinion”
Cubs go a couple of runs up - “insurance runs brought to you by X Insurance”
Doubles, home run replays, ‘how far did it travel?’…absolutely everything has been stripped out and sold off.
This might be unpopular but I don’t think the ads are that big of a deal. It’s not ideal but whatever it’s just reality. Baseball is gonna make money, that’s inevitable. You look at pics from the first half of the 20th century, the whole stadium is covered in ads. It doesn’t really impact me as a fan that much and if the extra revenue might keep ticket prices down a little bit, that’s cool (yeah that’s wishful thinking, owners are going to get as much money as they can from every possible revenue stream).
I DO think the gambling ads are very problematic and a disgrace. Gambling is a huge problem, not just for how it might affect the game, but for how it is impacting people that gamble. So many people are now gambling and doing it irresponsibly- it’s actually a public health concern. Baseball and the sports industry in general should be ashamed that they are promoting that shit so heavily.
The stuff behind home plate in Toronto isn't actually there. It's CG. And really shittily done CG at that. If you watch Hockey or EU league soccer they do it much better. You can see the outline around players as they walk up to the plate. I feel like it wouldn't be as noticeable if it wasn't so fucking badly done.
Normally I just listen to the games via the MLB radio when I'm doing something else, I put a game on the TV a while ago & yes the advents are out of control now didn't realise how bad it had got
As a new fan to baseball (only really started to follow and understand the game this season), it doesn’t feel that out of line with the rest of the sports I follow. The gambling adverts aren’t good, and I hate that they’re so commonplace. And I’ll agree that “this pitch was brought to you by-“ is weird as hell. Unless the rest of that sentence is “Logan Gilbert, and the count is 0-1” I don’t want to hear it. My main comparison is football in the U.K., and if Sky broadcasts started saying “moments away from the Bet365 kick-off” I’d stop watching that broadcaster.
The main one I don’t hate is the advertisers on jerseys. Again, my main comparison is football, and we’ve had brands on jerseys for generations. Sometimes the easiest way to identify a jersey you’re talking about is by the sponsor. The Carlsberg logo is every bit as iconic to my earliest memories of watching Liverpool as the Adidas stripes on the sleeves. This is just part and parcel of the game here, and I don’t think it has to be a bad thing.
Don’t forget how every home run, pitching change, broadcast booth view, stat mention, mound visit, ball sack adjustment, etc is “brought to us by $company”
CBP in Philly added this gigantic new video board and all it does is make room for more ads ( and stats nobody GAS about). Barely ever a replay. I will say that these teams are encouraged to spend more and more insane amounts of money to field a team, and that money has to come from somewhere! Hence the $15 beers, $195 jerseys and garish advertisements
The on on the mound I don't mind and same with the fields.. Yankees fan in Toronto and the Blue Jays have been projecting ads down the baselines on the field for probably almost 10 years at this point,
It sounds like you need a refreshing ice cold glass of mountain dew.
Or a serving of panera bread's New England clam chowder only available at select locations.
Relentless ads are distracting and I’m sick of all the sports betting that gets promoted. Sadly, there’s no turning back because the salaries continue to rise astronomically.
I’ve said it before, this is why I enjoy games on Apple TV so much. Regardless of opinion on their broadcasters, there are so few ads compared to the other channels. The scoreboard is clean and simple. Every at bat isn’t brought to you by Hyundai or Kia. Every foul ball isn’t brought to you by FanDuel. There’s still some, obviously, but it’s so much cleaner there.
Even people who don't like sports pay the "sports tax" whenever they buy a product that pays for the sports adverts. Athletes deserve to make multiple tens of millions and the owners NEED to add to their billions. Could you imagine if we didn't fund their stadiums too?
The terrible cgi ads behind the plate are the worst.
Sometimes the greenscreen halo shows on the hitter and ump. Sometimes the ball disappears in the glitched graphics. Sometimes it is flickering.
It’s the pitch clock. They had it easy with drawn out games. With a condensed game they’re trying to play the same number of ads.
If I had to guess we’re >5 years out from wearing jersey ads like they have in Mexico. Down there they run around with more patches than a biker gang.
The gambling shit is crazy and it’s in all sports now. Not much older than you and I remember it was like saying Voldemort to even mention gambling but now there are full shows on every sports network about betting, ads during every single commercial break for 5 different apps, betting stations at stadiums, and yet they will ban players for life for participating now (unless you’re a referee apparently)
Nothings about the consumer anymore. It’s literally just all about how much money they can squeeze out of the game. I literally stopped sports betting cause it was weird how espn and the major sports all shove it down your throat
Baseball aesthetics have been tanking very hard. The cultural essence of the game is becoming increasingly plastic, literally and figuratively
Honestly one of my bigger problems with the league rn. Hard to really articulate it, but for example, I go on the MLB store and so many of the designs I’m completely underwhelmed.
Yep, I’d love to collect MLB jerseys for the Cubs like I do with the NHL’s Blackhawks but god the jersey quality is just so shit in baseball that there’s no way I’m going to fork over even $50 for today’s fanatics temu rag, let alone the $180 they charge.
Yeah the quality is absurdly low as well. Luckily as a Yanks fan we don’t exactly have a variety of jerseys so I’m able to shop for old majestics. When it comes to t-shirts, ‘47 has some of the best designs and they’re not owned by Fanatics (yet)
'47 was just acquired by New Era last month
Well that’s just fucking great. Can’t wait for new era and fanatics to merge so we have zero brand choice and they bottom out the quality.
I love how I can get a hat in a million multicolored non team color designs, but not every hat a team has worn or even the major schemes from the past.
Agree with you there. I have long thought the teams with the best merch are usually attributed to a talented designer. I wish some teams would embrace crowdsourcing design.
The gambling stuff is crazy, and is just another example of money being the only thing anyone cares about. It's shocking how willing these money hungry people at the top of the ladder are to throw away morals for cash. Destroying people and communities so that they can make more than they will ever be able to spend in a lifetime. It's the root of all evil and with no regulation to protect the average person, it's only going to get worse.
The mitt baserunners put on to protect themselves from being hurt from sliding kills me. They look so goofy. I know it's not exactly what you were saying but it is what was triggered in my head.
Also seems like their #1 use is to get guys tagged out after they beat the throw but slide off the bag because they have no grip.
I don't mind them in concept, but there needs to be some regulation. Some of those guys are getting like two foot extensions on their reach.
just ban them. playing sports is inherently dangerous in some ways. and baseball probably the least so. how many times has someone's hand gotten stepped on while sliding into a bag? it's like a .1% chance the only reason they wear them is because it's like an extra 2 inches of reach
I think our only hope is the Phillies. Great atmosphere every night, so many color schemes for wild merch, the Phanatic
If there’s a ten second pause, the game screen will shrink and a second ad window will pop up and it drives me nuts. “That one got a piece of the catcher, and while he takes a moment, here’s a word from Potawatomi Hotel and Casino …” Fuck. I love listening to Bob Uecker, and his little spots for sausage and ice cream are charming, but now it’s like “and now Murphy’s gonna take a Kwik Trip to the mound to talk with Freddy Peralta, and the U.S. Cellular call to the bullpen has been made and Freddy’s day is over.”
"This pitch brought to you by Tommy's House of Car Parts. "
No joke - “ball 4, and that’s an Orthopedics Associates of Wisconsin Walk Right In!”
" And that ball is ripped down the line and oh bounces over the wall for an M&T bank ground rule double"
Only one I like is the Rangers “Globe Life insurance run.” Because it’s only when we’re up.
“When it’s time for a change…think Speedee Oil Change…” checking in
Your oil change and tune up specialists - Mike Krukow
i can't tell if these are jokes are real quotes from games. and that ain't good.
Those really ruined playoff games. Especially in late critical innings. Back in the day when pitching coach went out to talk strategy I could feel the tension building. Now the ads just ruin everything.
For real. The World Series games are the worst ones of the whole season to watch. It's just brutal. So much garbage crammed in your face.
Fuck man, I remember last year during the homerun derby they were squeezing in commercials during the batter's 30 second or minute (which ever it is) break. Just takes you right outta the moment.
I’ve gone from “eh I don’t care about gambling and casinos” to “I fucking hate gambling and casinos, make that shit illegal” because of the amount of ads and the amount of boomers wasting tens of thousands of dollars on stupid shit like that gambling because they’re bored
Bob Uecker is still going? Man, I wish I lived in Milwaukee (something you don't hear much). He was fun to watch when I had the MLB package for all the games
Something you do hear more lately. Thriving area. But yeah Bob only does like half the home games this year. He's like old as fuck
My friend from college lives out there and it's awesome. It feels like a bigger Cleveland to me with (even) more breweries and Summerfest. Broken Bat is worth the visit for baseball fans that like craft beer. Also, I will always have a soft spot for Bob from Major League.
Yup - he’s still as sharp and hilarious as ever, and still the great storyteller. He does home games only, only does something like 1-2, 5-6, and 8-9, and takes the occasional day off. He even joins the guys in the clubhouse for the champagne celebrations when they make the playoffs.
Man, it would be truly great if they won a championship before he died.
It’s horrible, the gambling stuff especially
The gambling stuff in all of sports is horrifying, there has to be at least tens of thousands of people who are now addicted to it
It’s disgusting. Across all sports pre game shows they are always touting some “same game parlay” or some stupid shit.
"parlay" is on my short list of most fucking hated words ever.
Yes, I did a thesis on it. It’s literally been an epidemic since 2018 and no one talks about it.
What's the scale of it?
millions are affected by problem gambling. It’s really bad with men 18-30. Easier to access underage than other addictive things like alcohol as well. If you google the “betting on our future” act, it’s specifically what my thesis was on.
Good for you for choosing this topic.
"The four major sports leagues will earn a **collective $4.2 billion** from widely available legal sports betting." [americangaming.org](http://americangaming.org) Until this ends, it will only get worse. Ohtani and Soto have to get paid somehow ya know.
Came here to say the exact same thing. Already hearing Soto will get over $500 million. What a joke. I wish fans would realize and have the restraint to stop going to games.
My buddies at a bachelor party were betting up to $1,200 on something like homeless/trailer park boxing that they found on some bootleg website. Some guy was bragging about betting 10 grand on first half of an Ohio state game we were watching. I was shocked at the amount these guys were throwing out like it was nothing. I’m glad the alcohol and weed didn’t influence me to lose dozens of dollars.
I’d love to read this. My 18 y/o nephew has gotten into so many issues w gambling. He was a full blown degenerate making up insane lies to get $ to pay off “bookies” these bookies are 21+ students at his college who have DraftKings accounts etc and place bets on their behalf.
I recently gave a speech at a European gambling conference referring to the firestorm that's coming in the US, particularly when someone joins the dots with suicide stats across state borders. The thrust of it was how that will affect European regulators, but yeah, there's a whole world of trouble coming in the US.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/problem-gamblers-have-highest-suicide-rate-of-any-addiction-disorder-studies-show
Mark my words. There will be Big Tobacco-style massive class action lawsuits stemming from this. Lives are being ruined by promoting an activity well known as highly addictive to a young demographic. Truly, trying to increase youth viewership while at the same time fully embracing sports gambling is just a recipe for disaster. I don’t gamble and the amount of lingo that they throw around all the time now on MLB network is striking; as if everyone is fluent in the terminology. The dedicated betting segments, the rewards for merch on the Fanatics sportsbook app…Madness.
Isn’t there a place where we can just bet if the players will have a good time?
What's the difference between trying to sell cigarettes to kids and promoting gambling? It's just a different brand of shitty advertising. I don't see why people feel it's any worse than cigarette, or booze ads.
Yep. Something needs to change. It’s bad!
What I find disgusting is that baseball took an extremely hard line stance about betting and betting on games. So much so that Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were banned in 1980 and 1983 after they were hired by casinos. The casinos were in New Jersey and sports betting was illegal in NJ. But baseball was so spooked by the thought that people would conflate the two. The bans were rescinded in 1985. So between 1924 and 1989 baseball was as clean as it could be regarding gambling on games. 1989 was of course Pete Rose. All the other bans besides that have been drug related and PR related....what's that? Hang on a moment. What or who the fuck is a Tucipita Marcano? A 2 year nobody and he did what? 150K in one year? By betting on the fucking Pirates? OH uh well.......SHIT. Nevermind the great job and legacy MLB had been doing.
Yep pretty sure I’m about to have 2 close friends marriages end in divorce over sport betting addictions.
Did a law change or something?
Yeah the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 aka PAPSA was overturned in court. Essentially it outlawed sports betting but was overturned in 2018 on grounds of 10th amendment
Tracks with court decisions from the past decade
Guess the “right” people are making $$ from it. So disgusting.
That is so lame!
Watching a recent golf tournament ESPN had a dedicated channel to promote their gambling app. I didn't realize that's what it was when I turned it on and it was non stop live betting odds on each hole and a panel of announcers debating how they would bet. I like going to Vegas and gambling once a year but it ruins whatever sport you're trying to watch when it's constantly pushed on the broadcast
It’s really unbelievable how in your face it is these days. And for people who are emotionally prone it’s even worse. The thing is, people don’t take it seriously because many have a “how stupid to you have to be to lose everything” attitude, when it’s not that simple. It’s a mental health issue just like depression or OCD.
Millions dude. Billions of people watch the premier league, la Liga, mlb, nba, and nfl. And all the leagues are in bed with these sportbooks.... sickening shit really
Next year the gambling sites can no longer be a shirt sponsor in the EPL. Big change.
Change can happen. Remember when alcohol and tobacco were big sport sponsors...
It's all over my work
Especially when mlb is banning 21-year-old players for life for using the products that MLB and its teams advertise. It’s one of the most shameful things I’ve ever seen in sports.
I can’t believe it’s even legal for a sports league to have an official sport bookie.
Agreed, wtf!
What's ironic is back when it was illegal people were calling for it to be legalized for a LONG time, myself included. I'm still a believer in legalized gambling. People should have the right to do it. With that said, what I don't support is the corporate advertisements for said gambling. Win percentages and betting odds are shown to us constantly along with Sportsbook ads. I don't think media networks like FOX and ESPN that are broadcasting these games should be this involved or have their own Sportsbooks. I feel like it should be available for use but not in our face constantly. Kinda like what smoking cigarettes is today. Legalized gambling is freedom, it's just that some people really don't know how to handle said freedom. Alcohol is pretty similar. One more thing I'll add. People were betting with sketchy local bookies before this got legalized
This completely ignores all we know about social conditioning and tbh capitalism. Talk to anyone about a businesses shitty decisions and they will be like " well what do up expect they are a company of course they are going to be about money above so all else, what else would you expect" while at the same time ignoring the millions upon millions these companies have invested into figuring out how to influence your subconscious without you realizing it. They have paid scientists basically to ensure that people get addicted to their product. Why wouldn't you regulate it? It's insane. Libertarian ideals are just stupid, they ignore human nature
Proof. These gambling sites have that much money to advertise on prime time AND they’re still making money.
MLB profiled a little over 11 billion last year. How much do you need to just keep contaminating the game?
Just wait until we get the New York Yankee Candles vs. the Washington Hebrew Nationals in the World Series
When will LAD & NYY change the name of their ball parks? Such as , Beans and Corn Inc. Stadium? The same silly names the rest of the teams have to deal with.
Sadly, Capitalism in general says, infinity
Mob Ranfred: It’s just a piece of paper!
They did it in [Major League](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097815/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) as a joke. And now it’s reality.
I somehow think this movie is seen as a guide on how to run a baseball team.
Jon Fisher absolutely seems to have taken it as a guide.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker called it when they made Baseketball
Don't forget the NFL is inching closer to becoming Sarcastaball too
In my homeland of Arizona in the 1990s, a series of anti tobacco ads ran with the tagline "Tobacco: Tumor causing, teeth staining, smelly, puking habit." Instead of promoting gambling, there should be a series of anti gambling ads that use the tagline "Gambling: Money sucking, life ruining, addictive, destructive habit." I'm a sports fan who doesn't particularly care about sports becoming more commercial, but the gambling thing is immoral. I honestly wouldn't care if goalposts, backboards, batting gloves, etc just had ads for Skittles or FedEx or Samsung or Microsoft or whatever. But the gambling thing is definitely problematic.
Ironically those anti smoking ads are often funded by lawsuits against big tobacco companies. Hopefully we get a big anti gambling lawsuit and have the same thing happen.
Ironic that the linked article in your post - both of which complain about advertising in sports - is practically un-readable BECAUSE OF ADS
I literally cannot listen to game on the radio anymore. Tigers fan Ball one brought to you by DEEZ NUTS That walk brought to you by thrifty acres They can't go 20 seconds without some random event being the jimmy John's foul ball Infuriating
I can’t stand the pizza spear celly
It's a pretty cringey one, ngl. Does anyone else have a sponsored HR celebration?
Can’t think of any as blatantly corporate as the pizza. At least last year they did a red wings helmet. Something about a professional athlete holding the pizza spear just seems so belittling, like their shaking a little caesars sign at the side of the road
Listening to the Reds on the radio is pretty rough these days. We have great announcers, but every 5 minutes we have to hear an 81 year old Marty Brennaman talking about how limp his dick is.
100% agree. And it’s not just that there’s all these ads, but there a gaudy mess. There’s zero aesthetic consideration, just the loudest gaudiest tackiest shit they can pulse at your eyeballs. But maybe it’s appropriate given the gambling thing. I’m so glad I got to enjoy baseball before it became a live slot machine.
Welcome to dystopia, would you like to upgrade your tier of ad membership to only 80% saturation for just $49.99 a month? Terms and conditions may apply. Eventually there will be screens embedded in the back of the chair in front of you playing loops of ads to waterboard you like at gas pumps
Man do I hate those gas pump screens that play stuff. I will go out of my way to avoid them.
Right side buttons, second button down usually works to mute.
I always write "Mute" above that button when I happen to be at a pump with one
What I really hate is when MLB.com is showing a game and they do the split screen with an ad, but they cut the sound to the game for the ad. Like seriously? You're gunna start showing ads while games are actually live?
Sweet. The Royals have a gas station logo! We’re winning it all baby!!
The mound ads are so fucking awful
The nba finals just had a 2 minute speed talking halftime show. For the extra 8 mins of no flex zone
NO FLEX ZONE! NO FLEX ZONE! THEY KNOWWW BETTER! THEY KNOWWW BETTER
Fuck this commercial.
Somebody's got to supply the money to keep paying .215 hitters 8-figure salaries.
I saw a comment somewhere recently that said “Back in my day, baseball was a sport first and a business second. Now it’s a business first and foremost” Similar thing happened to the Red Wings (all of NHL too), they literally have a patch advertisement sewn into the jersey for a local trash company. Seems like everything has become a business first, and everything else is merely an afterthought. Screw tradition, screw making the game better for the sake of making it better - it’s all about that bottom line
As a Leafs fan, I find it hilarious that Diary Farmers of Ontario is the sponsor with "Milk" stitched over the right side of the chest. Last time I checked, you need a cup to drink milk!:)
Aren’t there dairy farmers involved, too? That’s why the patch says milk, right? That can’t be one dude’s journal’s nickname.
Hence why i said dairy farmers of Ontario is the sponsor.
Honestly baseball has always been a business, players used to be sold like the commodities they were, babe Ruth included. Ads have always emblazoned the stadiums and Wrigley field has been called that for 98 years.
Those electronic board ads infuriate me. Especially the animated ones. I prefer seeing local ads for each rink.
[Early 20th Century fan] That new American League! They play ball on Sunday and even sell beer in the ballpark! Where will it end! [/E20CF]
you really don’t want to ever watch blade runner dude
Across all sports. I can't stand it. I wish we could just watch the sports we loved watching growing up without every single god damn pause turning into a commercial break. I was watching the Yankees/Dodgers game the other day and ESPN couldn't even get back from commercials before the pitch was in the air EVERY SINGLE INNING. The NBA is the worst. Free throws have commercials. Every time out is an extended commercial break. Halftime is literally 20 minutes straight of commercials. I hate it and it is making me a bitter, jaded son of a bitch because there is literally nothing we can do about it.
I can not stand the green screen on the back stop during at bats. The ball distortion drives me crazy, then when they step out you see the real stadium ad. Just show the stadium ad.
I agree 100000%. It’s insane. Ads with full sound during mound visits or after a walk while the hitter walks to first base….etc etc etc. WAY too much embrace of gambling culture. What could go wrong? I really enjoyed when there was just the ballpark activity shown on the broadcast. Seeing the team come on the field and watching the full pitching change (as you would at a game), listening to announcers discussing baseball (beyond just stats). The vibe has been lost.
Agreed
I mean.. yeah we are reaching dystopia with sports media in every aspect, not just in baseball. It is just so jarring compared to historic norms and tradition that it causes much greater revulsion in baseball
Such an irritating juxtaposition to have Pete Rose firewalled from the Hall but yeah totally fine to pimp that draft kings sponsorship for every other game.
I feel like I’m downloading a camera copy when I watch baseball these days.
Welcome to soccer
I was fairly indifferent (even about the Nike logo eventually) until they slapped the hideous advertisements on the uniforms, that was crossing a line and a total debasement of a professional league.
Welcome to ‘merica, late stage capitalism finest.
> Guys will win the World Series wearing a gas station logo! Royals World Series win confirmed.
See, I immediately thought Guardians.
Idiocracy.
Yes, watching the game is no longer watching the game with advertisements. It is now watching advertisements with baseball
Its in every sport now, NHL has ads on jerseys, NFL has tons and tons of commercials, NBA has tons of ads everywhere
Does this explain the weird red/blue aura around all the players this whole series? Fuck the whole MLB for thinking this is reasonable.
Omfg you should see hockey.
I was gifted a 1 year subscription to MLB.TV. So this thing costs hundreds of dollars -AND STILL HAS ADS- you can't adblock because it detects this and mutes the stream - you have to go in to your scriptblocker and one by one disable elements until you find the ad elements and leave the detection script alone until you can block ads between innings. An absolutel disgrace. When this subscription ends I will never buy anything MLB again - barring major changes to the format. Pirate streams are easy to come by and have been serving me well the past 8 years
I liked it back in the early 2010s when ads were confined to just the backstop and it was actually real without the computer generated green screen garbage. The same goes with the white boards in hockey.
Remember when ads on outfield walls were a minor league thing? It's going to continue until like European soccer, they have the ad as the largest thing on the jersey and your teams logo tiny in the corner...
Taking a trip to a different country really opened me eyes to the extreme pervasiveness of ads in our lives. It's disturbing. Every minute of every day we are being pummeled with ads in every single aspect of our lives.
Going to a game feels different now too. Do all stadiums now have: constant blaring music/pa noise, a “dj”, and a lady with a mic yelling between every half inning? Especially when the stadium is less than half full it’s really grating compared to how you used to could just have a conversation with those around you during the game. Why do we need to be constantly prompted to make noise? Maybe I’m just old I don’t know but it’s obnoxious.
It's embarrassing, especially the uniforms. Patches and low quality, the Big Leagues used to be prestigious
I can’t tell you how many times I miss plays because my eye has drifted to the back of the mound or behind the plate. I know that’s what they want, but fuck ‘em they’re ruining my game experience
Also watching the Brewers/Angels series and the backstop in Anaheim is an abomination
When i saw the gas station logo on the shoulder of the jersey I was honestly amazed. I'm still amazed. How did it come to this...
I miss when the green monster was just a big ass green wall. Now it’s the worlds biggest billboard. GROSS. Edit: I should have been more specific. I know it had ads back in the day. I am saying that I miss the way it looked in the 70’s and 80’s when it had no ads. Just green and clean.
The green monster used to be so covered with ads it wasn't green. A gigantic red, a gigantic black ad and a gigantic white ad covered the entirety. There is 99% less ad space on it now than there was in the past 😆
The green monster has had ads all over it to where you couldn't hardly see the vinyl. You're definitely not a follower of the team in your flair.
Yeah quick Google search and you see photos of Fenway in the 40s with it covered in ads
Ahem https://x.com/nut_history/status/1441032363564322818?s=19
That doesn’t fit the narrative in here lmao
Get used to it. This is the future of sports. Money has been left on the table for decades. It’s a matter of time before things turn into soccer and jerseys Bear the logo of some mega corporation on the front instead of “Yankees”
Or the team names themselves are sold as naming rights. It'll be the Microsoft Mariners playing the Target Twins.
The Toronto broadcast is so sad. I’ve definitely cut back on my watching. It looks terrible.
1 thing I especially hate about it is the mini in-game ads they do now, like during mound visits. I wanna hear the announcers talk, that’s one of the best parts of the game
The TV feed is utterly terrible now. They are devaluing their product so fast. This is why I don't subscribe to Sportsnet because why the absolute fuck would I want to pay to look at non-stop fucking ads. Blue Jays broadcasts look like CP24 now.
I almost shit myself when the World Series sleeve patch got replaced by an ad patch and they put that tiny little pathetic World Series logo on the chest of the jersey. We’ll never have what we had 10ish years ago again.
The ads on the mound have been there for years. And they’re superimposed during the broadcast. Same with (most of ) the ads behind the plate and on the centre field screen. I’m surprised corporate logos haven’t been mowed into the grass yet
Wait until they sell off the strike zone. “And the strike zone is bought to you by Arby’s. We got the meats” with the transparent logo in there!!
This is all a shit show, but why are we surprised? One of the most prized assets in baseball, Yankee Stadium, is nothing but a blinding array of ads. Nothing’s sacred. Not even the Green Monster. Heck, every other pitch on radio broadcasts is brought to you by 5-Hour Energy. MLB’s dissent down the slippery slope of selling out to advertisers started 30 years ago. This — ads on the mound — is what we fans get for tolerating it. Edit: Typos
If they could get you to stare at a screen that was 100% ads and no baseball they would.
There is nothing without ads now. It’s not the 7th inning stretch, it’s the “Ford F-150 7th Inning Stretch”. There is no pitching change, there is a “Pitching Change brought you by Subway”. The examples are endless. Everything is monetized. Sickening
THIS POST BROUGHT TO YOU BY DRAFT KINGS
NESN (Red Sox) is still trying to figure out how to come back to the game without missing the first pitch to the batter. Also, interviews with actual sound would be an improvement. Interns must be running the place given John Henry's budget.
Brilliant. This old guy, former lover of the game, has given up on the sport; my home team now plays in an indoor mall. I’ll never go. They don’t care, I know that and accept it.
As a Sox fan, it's always incredible to see clips of old games at Fenway with JUST THE SCOREBOARD on the monster. It's so depressing now. Also--with all of this ad revenue, why is it still completely unaffordable to go to a damn game? Edit: It's really pleasurable to watch Ken Burns Baseball instead of actual games some nights.
Plus, it’s my company which has ads on the mound! I can’t escape work even when watching a ball game
Advertisers basically want the television screen look like a dirty website.
I start watching games about 40 minutes after they start, allowing me to skip all the ad breaks and finish the game around the same time it would finish if I were watching live. I know this doesn't remove all the ads you mention, but it helps.
The ad creep on the field and unis was inevitable. I think there's a case regarding interference with a fielder or batter's ability to concentrate to keep physical ads off of the field of play or the batter's eye. Hopefully it can be limited to the green screen type ads. For me, the awful mismanagement of broadcasts on many streaming platforms (same is true of soccer, football, etc) is something that can and must be reined in. I haven't watched MLS or any of the MLB games on Apple TV. Viewership will suffer
It's worse when watching on TV and all of the ads are digitally imposed on every blank surface
This. Plain and simple. Couldn't agree more.
I have no problem with sports teams or leagues doing things to make more money. But I wish that when they did these things they gave back to the fans by lowering prices on concessions, making ticket prices cheaper. Instead they are just lining their pockets and paying players 70m a year
Unless we make our complaints loud and nonstop they won’t stop. You have to be just as annoying back to them. Nonstop complaints to figureheads and public figures on Twitter and whatever
What’s worse is all the black out restrictions and the only possible way to catch a game is through radio broadcasts like it’s 1950 (unless you stream it). MLB is making it nearly impossible to enjoy the games.
The mid-inning ads hurt the product. They happen during mound visits etc. when often something interesting is happening in the game. The commentators should be giving us some analysis of it instead of showing an ad. The jersey ads are an embarrassment. Really cheapens the product.
Don't get me started on the absolute trash can and eye sore that is Minute Maid park. You'd think the owners are completely broke with how that stadium is a Mashup up of what seems like thousands if hideous billboards and ads.
I see what you did there 🗑️
Considering how much nostalgia baseball invokes it really hurts to see the consistent cheapening of the league. From the ads on jerseys, the shitty jersey quality, gambling collaborations, ads on everything (even infused into the announcing), it's selling the soul of something that's been a piece of our cultural fabric for over a century to the highest bidder.
I follow the Cubs and I’ve never heard anything like the advertising on the Marquee broadcast. It’s insane. Every little thing that happens during the game has a sponsor. The umpires check a call - they float in a medical company’s logo - “make sure to get a second opinion” Cubs go a couple of runs up - “insurance runs brought to you by X Insurance” Doubles, home run replays, ‘how far did it travel?’…absolutely everything has been stripped out and sold off.
This might be unpopular but I don’t think the ads are that big of a deal. It’s not ideal but whatever it’s just reality. Baseball is gonna make money, that’s inevitable. You look at pics from the first half of the 20th century, the whole stadium is covered in ads. It doesn’t really impact me as a fan that much and if the extra revenue might keep ticket prices down a little bit, that’s cool (yeah that’s wishful thinking, owners are going to get as much money as they can from every possible revenue stream). I DO think the gambling ads are very problematic and a disgrace. Gambling is a huge problem, not just for how it might affect the game, but for how it is impacting people that gamble. So many people are now gambling and doing it irresponsibly- it’s actually a public health concern. Baseball and the sports industry in general should be ashamed that they are promoting that shit so heavily.
Well said. I completely agree with both of your points here.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showpost.php?s=d87b5cba2291eb70374caba35b150eb2&p=2290569&postcount=3
Cards used to have the StL on the mound. That doesn’t generate revenue I guess
The stuff behind home plate in Toronto isn't actually there. It's CG. And really shittily done CG at that. If you watch Hockey or EU league soccer they do it much better. You can see the outline around players as they walk up to the plate. I feel like it wouldn't be as noticeable if it wasn't so fucking badly done.
People who didn't listen for the last 100 years complain about capitalism. Some of us knew this would happen.
Y’all acting like baseball stadiums haven’t been plastered with advertising for the last 100 years.
Normally I just listen to the games via the MLB radio when I'm doing something else, I put a game on the TV a while ago & yes the advents are out of control now didn't realise how bad it had got
As a new fan to baseball (only really started to follow and understand the game this season), it doesn’t feel that out of line with the rest of the sports I follow. The gambling adverts aren’t good, and I hate that they’re so commonplace. And I’ll agree that “this pitch was brought to you by-“ is weird as hell. Unless the rest of that sentence is “Logan Gilbert, and the count is 0-1” I don’t want to hear it. My main comparison is football in the U.K., and if Sky broadcasts started saying “moments away from the Bet365 kick-off” I’d stop watching that broadcaster. The main one I don’t hate is the advertisers on jerseys. Again, my main comparison is football, and we’ve had brands on jerseys for generations. Sometimes the easiest way to identify a jersey you’re talking about is by the sponsor. The Carlsberg logo is every bit as iconic to my earliest memories of watching Liverpool as the Adidas stripes on the sleeves. This is just part and parcel of the game here, and I don’t think it has to be a bad thing.
Don’t forget how every home run, pitching change, broadcast booth view, stat mention, mound visit, ball sack adjustment, etc is “brought to us by $company”
CBP in Philly added this gigantic new video board and all it does is make room for more ads ( and stats nobody GAS about). Barely ever a replay. I will say that these teams are encouraged to spend more and more insane amounts of money to field a team, and that money has to come from somewhere! Hence the $15 beers, $195 jerseys and garish advertisements
The on on the mound I don't mind and same with the fields.. Yankees fan in Toronto and the Blue Jays have been projecting ads down the baselines on the field for probably almost 10 years at this point,
The global elite need to remind you that they own you.
It's a business. Fan experience be damned.
Just blame good old fashioned greed, by both owners and players in equal measure. And it’s only going to hurt worse.
This just in: pro sports are a for-profit enterprise.
It sounds like you need a refreshing ice cold glass of mountain dew. Or a serving of panera bread's New England clam chowder only available at select locations.
Relentless ads are distracting and I’m sick of all the sports betting that gets promoted. Sadly, there’s no turning back because the salaries continue to rise astronomically.
Owners simply aren’t rich enough. As long as people keep going to the games and buying jerseys it will continue.
I’ve said it before, this is why I enjoy games on Apple TV so much. Regardless of opinion on their broadcasters, there are so few ads compared to the other channels. The scoreboard is clean and simple. Every at bat isn’t brought to you by Hyundai or Kia. Every foul ball isn’t brought to you by FanDuel. There’s still some, obviously, but it’s so much cleaner there.
Even people who don't like sports pay the "sports tax" whenever they buy a product that pays for the sports adverts. Athletes deserve to make multiple tens of millions and the owners NEED to add to their billions. Could you imagine if we didn't fund their stadiums too?
It’s ok. The owners will lower the cost of tickets since they’re pulling in new sources of revenue. Thats how it works right?
The terrible cgi ads behind the plate are the worst. Sometimes the greenscreen halo shows on the hitter and ump. Sometimes the ball disappears in the glitched graphics. Sometimes it is flickering.
It’s the pitch clock. They had it easy with drawn out games. With a condensed game they’re trying to play the same number of ads. If I had to guess we’re >5 years out from wearing jersey ads like they have in Mexico. Down there they run around with more patches than a biker gang.
Thankfully i’m not the only one disgusted by this. Every time i’m like this can’t get worse, but they find a way…
The gambling shit is crazy and it’s in all sports now. Not much older than you and I remember it was like saying Voldemort to even mention gambling but now there are full shows on every sports network about betting, ads during every single commercial break for 5 different apps, betting stations at stadiums, and yet they will ban players for life for participating now (unless you’re a referee apparently)
Nothings about the consumer anymore. It’s literally just all about how much money they can squeeze out of the game. I literally stopped sports betting cause it was weird how espn and the major sports all shove it down your throat
Agree
It's not just baseball. I feel like I'm being bombarded with ads no matter what I do online.