By Ken Reed
We’ve written about this issue before (here and here). But it needs to be addressed again.
The number of drop-in ads during radio and television broadcasts of Major League Baseball (MLB) games is completely out of hand.
The problem is especially troublesome with radio broadcasts. Seemingly, every single development in a baseball game now has to be “brought to you by Company XYZ.” It’s truly annoying and is to the point where baseball fans are being moved to turn off the radio.
For the most part, we all know that pro sports are driven by a PAAC (profit-at-all-costs) mentality. However, when thinking about how to maximize revenues, shouldn’t MLB executives consider that their obnoxious radio broadcasts are turning their fans off?
When it comes to drop-in ads during radio broadcasts, every American and National League team is a serial offender. But it seems the New York Yankees have taken this disgusting art form to a new level.
Here are some examples from an actual Yankees radio broadcast:
· “The game time temperature is brought to you by Brothers Supply, your number one source for ice air PTACs, water source heat pumps and fan coils.”
· “The national anthem salute to America is brought to you by Mutual of America.”
· “The starting battery is brought to you by Interstate Battery Distributors of New York and Connecticut. Every battery for every need.”
· “The first walk of the game is brought to you by Intel Power 2 in 1, flexible as you are.”
· “The call to the bullpen is brought to you by Geico, 15 minute can save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”
· “The defensive alignment is brought to you by Black Bear Forest Fresh deli meats, franks and cheeses, only at ShopRite.”
· “Scoreboard update is brought to you by Mercedes Benz Tri-State dealer.”
· “Today’s game attendance brought to you by Columbia Bank, serving New Jersey for 90 years.”
My take on this subject a couple years ago still holds true today — even more so:
“The bottom line is, listening to baseball radio broadcasts today isn’t as enjoyable or comforting as it used to be. It’s more like meeting a long-time friend for a relaxing coffee chat only to get barraged by a sales pitch for the latest multi-level marketing scheme.”
Here at League of Fans, we’ve tried to publicly shame MLB teams into cutting way back on this practice, unfortunately to no avail. So, we decided to try a different tact. We enlisted writer and comedian Steve Skrovan to put together a short piece of satire highlighting the absurdity of the ubiquitous drop-in ads in radio broadcasts today.
Skrovan did an excellent job with it. Trust me, it’s worth five minutes of your time. Take a listen.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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