TV matters
We discussed the dramatic dip in ratings for auto racing on Tuesday.
After Daytona and the season opener, no NASCAR race has improved on its 2016 TV numbers, even with the new stage racing wrinkle (which has been pretty well received) and the knowledge that this season is the last lap for Dale Jr., the sport's most popular star. Also, Sunday's Indy 500 was the lowest viewed since ABC started showing the race in its entirety in 1986.
Neither of those statements are good. But if there is solace for the bigwigs in racing, they can look around and see a lot of company.
Despite star power with a dude named LeBron, the Eastern Conference finals were the second-lowest rated in the last decade. Add that to the fact that there was no NBA on at any point during the Memorial Day weekend, and this postseason has been a rough one for the NBA's TV broadcast partners. (And add in the details of how many Saturday night prime time match-ups were derailed by resting stars, and here's betting there's some worried suits in the offices in Bristol and NYC.)
National baseball numbers are solely dependent on teams. Case in point, the Sunday night game on ESPN before Memorial Day was Texas-Detroit and it was down a third in viewers year-to-year. But the week before featured the Cubs and the week before that featured the Yankees, and each of those were on average or a little better than 2016. (We may all lament that the four-letter giant shoves the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Dodgers down our throats, but do not expect it to change any time soon.)
Heck, even the monster that is the NFL stared at flat ratings year-to-year on Sunday afternoons for the most part and moderate-to-large dips across all the prime-time games. (Side note: Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs drew a 3.5 overnight rating, which is up 30 percent from last years opener. To be fair, last year's opener was opposite an NBA Game 7 between Warriors-Thunder. Still, Game 1 between the Predators and Penguins was the fourth-highest rating share for a series opener since 1999, and three that topped it featured Chicago-Tampa Bay, New York-L.A. and Boston-Chicago, each of which is a top-10 media market. So maybe hockey is doing something right that others can learn from.)
As for the dips in almost every other sport, well, that's the billion-dollar question - for the sports and their TV partners.
In large part the overspending was accepted for monster events because the eyes were there and the costs were offset in part by the chance to advertise the networks' new shows and vehicles. (The most famous of these of course were the historically pumped "The Closer" several years ago on TNT during the NBA playoffs and more recently Skip Bayless' new Fox Sports show during the NFL games on Fox last season.)
But if numbers continue to dip, that makes the huge TV contracts even more obscene.
As for the why, well, it could be anything between team connection to uninteresting story lines to game times to the ever-growing number of things to watch and do. An interesting litmus test will be these NBA Finals, since it was a Basketball Death march through the playoffs for the Warriors and Cavs and they delivered the Final that everyone thinks they want to see.
But if these ratings come back flat, then what?
No one knows - in sports or in broadcasting - and that could forever change sports as we know them.
Speaking of the NBA Finals...
We are in.
But you knew this. We may love the draft - and we're certain you know that - but we are pretty high on LeBron James, too. So here we are.
Warriors-Cavs. For the third straight time, and we believe it to be the Finals we want. (As mentioned previously, the NBA and ABC best hope this is the Finals the viewing public wants so it can save a tepid postseason.)
That said, should we expect this to be a close series. In addition to needing the public story lines of James and his legacy, Kevin Durant chasing his title, the Warriors coaching situation that could get Mike Brown a title against his former team, et al., the series needs drama.
In a playoff run that has been decidedly one-sided - the Warriors are 12-0; Cleveland is 12-1 - and featured exactly one, decisive Game 7 (Clippers-Jazz in round one), there has to be intrigue and momentum swings. I am in because of LeBron. And we're not alone, considering James has arguably the largest number of fans/haters among team sports stars. (We could see Brady maybe, but that's rarified air.)
There will be others who are pulling for/rooting against the Warriors, who started a bandwagon the last few years but also alienated a lot of people by adding Durant and being the face of the "Super Team."
But those numbers will not be enough. The series must have drama. Period. How does that happen? Good question.
We'll break down the match-ups more tomorrow in advance of Game 1, but here are three quick items for the Cavs to make this a series:
1) LeBron must be great throughout for Cleveland to win, and he'll need to be better than that at times.
2) The Warriors are going to have to shoot the ball no better than OK in at least one Cleveland win. Regardless of how well LeBron plays - and his A game at times in this playoff run has been staggering - if the Warriors are clicking, there's no team in the league that can keep up. James and the Cavs included.
3) J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver are going to have to make a sizable amount of their open 3s.
Giddy-up.
Baseball blow-ups
Maybe it's all the fighting news, but there are a couple of other stories of baseball note out there.
First, as we pass the unofficial marker that signifies the first third of the season that is Memorial Day, the Houston Astros are the best team in baseball at 37-16. (They are a staggering 17-6 in road games.)
The Yankees are rolling in the East, at least a year or three ahead of schedule.
Albert Pujols, the slugger for the L.A. Angels now has 599 career homers. Man, that surely feels like a quiet question to become the ninth guy to hit 600 or more homers. (Yes, we were a little surprised to find out there were eight others, and the one that we could not rattle off was Jim Thome, who has 612 career home runs.)
On the other end of the spectrum, there's the man who dealt the pitch Pujols pounded last night. Bartolo Colon, a guy the Braves brought in to stabilize the rotation and munch innings has been an unmitigated, $12 million disaster.
Colon's 6.99 ERA is last among major league pitchers with enough innings to qualify. Hitters are batting .325 against Colon, and that too ranks worst in the majors. Last night he lasted all of 2.1 innings, and yes a couple of errors jumpstarted the game-changing rally and only two of the nine runs he allowed were earned. Still, he allowed seven hits and got seven outs.
The question now becomes how much longer Brian Snitker continues to hand him the ball every fifth day.
Heck, the guys in the brawl are facing suspensions.
Colon may be facing worse.
This and that
* This happened over the weekend, but we were remiss in not mentioning it. Chip Kelly has joined ESPN as a college football analyst. That could be interesting. What will be even more interesting is where does Kelly end up in about seven months when the hot seats around major jobs become hot opportunities for big-name college coaching candidates.
* Speaking of hot seats, Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward did not mince words about Kevin Sumlin and his expectations Tuesday on the Paul Finebaum Show. "Coach Sumlin knows he has to win. He has to win this year. He has to do better than he has done in the past." The Aggies have posted an 8-5 mark in each of the last three seasons under Sumlin. That seems pretty clear that better is a record that starts no worse than 9-and something.
* The big topic of Tuesday was the reaction to Tiger Woods' arrest. Here's TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer on the issue.
* Speaking of Tiger's unfortunate situation, well, you know you are in a sticky spot when John Daly is giving you life advice. And it makes sense.
* Monster transfer addition for UTC and first-year coach Tom Arth. Kareem Orr, the former all-state player at Notre Dame here in town and a freshman all-American two years ago at Arizona State, is transferring to join the Mocs. That kid could contribute or each side of the ball, and maybe both. Nice job reporting by UTC beat ace Mean Gene Henley.
* Florida coach Jim McElwain still is not best pleased with the photo-shopped version of a guy that looked like him naked on a dead shark.
* Here's some UT news from SEC spring meetings as Butch Jones chatted with reporters. This is a recap from TFP UT beat ace David Cobb.
Today's question
It's a one-word Wednesday. Let's give this a try.
The NBA Finals will last _________ games.
Chip Kelly will be coaching __________ next year.
Bartolo Colon will make _______ more starts with the Atlanta Braves.
Go, and feel free to leave behind a fill-in-the-blank question if you'd like.
As for the Rushmore, well, today, Clint Eastwood is 87. Yes, 87.
What's the Rushmore of Eastwood movies - as a star or a director.
Go, and it's never too early for the mailbag.