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Hello and happy Tuesday. I initially typed “happy Sunday,” realized that was wrong, tried “happy Thursday,” realized that was also wrong, and then got lucky by trying “happy Tuesday.” Days are hard in this new timeline.
The 2020 MLB season did not go as planned, as the coronavirus caused a 60-game season, rather than the 162-game schedule that we’re all accustomed to. Owners and players fought for months over the season, with owners wanting to cut player salaries (on top of prorating them) to make up for the lack of money coming in.
The league undoubtedly lost a lot of money by not being able to sell tickets, but there is some good news: TV viewership was up.
According to Maury Brown of Forbes, viewership was up 4.2%. And the San Francisco Giants were one of the teams showing the most growth, with a whopping 42% increase.
In terms of the largest average viewership increase, the Chicago White Sox led the way with growth of 136% (90,708, compared with 36,040 in 2019), followed by the Oakland A’s, up 108% (44,257, compared with 21,232 last year); the Los Angeles Dodgers, who reached a deal for carriage on DirecTV earlier in the year and came in third with an 84% increase (233,939, compared with 126,862 in 2019); and the San Francisco Giants, who saw a 42% increase (86,008, compared with 60,573 last season).
I won’t pretend to know where those extra views are coming from, but I would assume some are coming from the Giants being a much more compelling team this season, and not competing for views with the Golden State Warriors at any point in the year.
H/T to MCC user gianator for linking this article in yesterday’s BP.
Did Barry Bonds hit a home run today?
Nope.
Old, random MCC article for you to read
Ronald Acuña Jr. also signed an extremely team-friendly extension (April 2, 2019 — Kenny Kelly)
Giants Links
- Roger Munter looks at which Giants might make their debuts in 2021 (There R Giants)
- Podcast: Grant Brisbee and Andrew Baggarly recap the Giants season and hand out some hardware (The Athletic, free)
- Alex Coffey on the intertwined paths of Dusty Baker and Bob Melvin (The Athletic, subscription required)
- Dalton Johnson on the three areas that Scott Harris is targeting this offseason (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- John Shea on Dusty Baker rising above the cheating scandal to have some postseason success (SF Chronicle)
How many days until Opening Day?
There are 177 days until Opening Day.
Have a wonderful Tuesday.