So one nice thing about living in CA is that you can often watch sporting events in the late morning and hen game will be over around 1 and you still have a vast majority of the day to enjoy the beautiful weather (not to mention keeping the wife happy by not consuming the prime hours of the day watching guys named Wily Mo, Coco and Big Papi on TV).
Well yesterday around 2:00, my wife says something to the effect of why is the game still on, aren’t they usually over around one on the weekends (except for those stupid Fox days when I can either not see the game or if I can it is on at 1 or 4.) But I digress. So I noted to her that the game started at 2:00 on Sunday and 1:00 on Saturday. She asked why. And I had no real answer. Now, I am pretty sure that the 2:00 Sunday starts is something relatively new (maybe the last 4 or 5 years). And it does seem kind of silly to have different starting times (or starting times that move all over the map). After all, the Sox stopped having the 6:05 starts on week nights in April.
So after a little thinking, it dawned on me that the reason for the 2:05 start is really nothing more than a way for the Sox to make more money. Gates open 2 hours before game time (noon), and the Sox liquor license (I am fairly certain on this) does not allow them to sell liquor until after noon on a Sunday. This makes perfect sense and, hey, I am all for the team making money. I’m just a bit surprised that this has not been brought up by CHB, D&C and the like.
There really can’t be any other reason. If anything you would think you would have the earlier start on Sunday to allow the game to wrap earlier and allow teams to get a 1 hour headstart on their travels.
Again, I don’t have a problem with it at all. I just was trying to come up with an answer for my wife and then once (I think) I had it I am surprised that it has not become an issue for the almighty scribes that cover our team.
Never thought about that, but it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI thin I only noticed this year that the 6:05 April games are gone. When did that change?
I think that was about two years ago. My guess is that has to do with $$ as well - fewer people can get there after work in time for first pitch let alone early enough to hang out and have a few beers. Not to mention the fewer number of viewers at home at 6 versus 7 (or 5 vs. 6 for pregame shows).
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is the writers get all bent out of shape about something like a rain out that certainly was not calculated but possible netted the team an extra $100,000 (figure 10,000 fans actaully showed up and each spent $15, less cost of goods and less concessions management fees), yet there is no outcry over things that are done intentionally that generated extra millions (except of course the highest ticket prices in baseball, which are artificially low in terms of supply and demand). And to the Sox credit, as far as we know they have not gone the Cubs route and established a ticket brokerage to which they feed premium tickets. Sure there would be a PR hit, but they do leave tens of millions of dollars on the table each and every year.
The radio guys get all over the sox about rain outs. They have had at least 2 games that could have been called in the early afternoon, but the Sox waited until game time. The radio guys went nuts over that. It's clear that the only reason they do that is to generate $. The things fanatics will do!
ReplyDeleteLets not forget that when there is a rain out, that means extra charter costs, hotel rooms, per diems, etc. I would be that those exceed any concession revenue that is generated by fans that actually get to the park instead of going to Bukoswski's and waiting. Of course one is bourne by the home team the other the visitors.
ReplyDeleteThat whole rain out thing is ridiculous. A business that generates over $200 milllion in revenue is not going to play those kinds of games for a hundred grand or so. If that were the case, Fenway would be the home of $300 box seats and $50 bleacher seats.
By the way Clement looks fabulous tonight :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah he's clearly limping around and does not have IT.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side, if I think back to the off season of 2004-2005, the Sox targets in order were Pavano, Radke and then Clement. Obviously Pavano sucked, but I'm not so sure I would have rather had Radke. Clement was dominant last year in the first half. So maybe Radke would have been better througout the season and the playoffs, but he looks even worse than Clement this year.
and then today's globe says the Sox have looked at Kyle Lohse. Yikes!