8 ms·

Everyone Wants to Go Home During Extra Innings, Maybe Even the Umps

88 points by wglb 9y ago

clw8 9y ago
They also need to play fewer games. The Cubs' star Anthony Rizzo said he would gladly take a pay cut. Teams play 162 games a year. That's just insane considering how demanding the sport is and how frequently players get injured.
- pgrote 9y ago
  I would think it'd only work if everyone in the game was willing to take x% off their revenue. If you take out 10% of the games, the revenue would fall off. If the schedule is reduced, a certain amount of payback or retroactive contract negotiation would have to occur with the myriad of networks paying to broadcast the games.
- spike021 9y ago
  I don't think they need to. Baseball's been run this way for decades, and people are only now complaining about the number of games per season. One part of the entire draw of baseball is that (usually) it's looked at more-so as a marathon of a sport. It's all about which teams can withstand the long season than not. You could have a 10 game win streak in May, but that doesn't make a difference in September if your team's division is still close. You need to have the health at that point and durability of players to continue to be successful, especially through the playoffs.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
kris-s 9y ago
One idea I'd like to see spread from competitive gaming is the willingness of the powers that be to adjust the sport to improve it. I don't know the exact details of how rules officially get changed in sports, but man does it seem painfully slow for any changes to be made (overpowered pitchers in baseball, no video reviews in soccer, etc). This is something I think MMA does really well, as the rules are mostly in place to prevent permanent injury and the "meta" seems to evolve nicely on its own. (I'd still like to see a version of MMA with no gloves - it would probably be much safer). I don't always agree with changes that come to my particular game of choice (Starcraft II) but I think the steady stream of small adjustments is a boon that other competitive venues should learn from.
- philwelch 9y ago
  The history of basketball is full of these: repeatedly widening the key because big men were OP, introducing offensive and defensive goaltending rules because big men were OP, outlawing zone defense in the NBA because zone defense was OP, followed by legalizing it because isos were OP. Baseball and soccer are two of the most traditional and conservative sports, so it's not as fair to single them out, even though baseball goes through periods of raising and lowering the pitchers' mound.
  - unit91 9y ago
    What does "OP" mean in this context?
    - teraflop 9y ago
      "Overpowered." It's video game slang.
- keerthiko 9y ago
  I really think as eSports audiences begin to grow comparable to and threaten to overtake traditional sports (I predict 2022), conventional competitive rules are going to start adjusting with the goal of "keeping the game interesting to play and watch", rather than legacy. The younger eyeballs are rapidly being siphoned into eSports and mainstream events will have to start doing something to get their attention.
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > younger eyeballs are rapidly being siphoned into eSports and mainstream events will have to start doing something to get their attention What do the data on this look like? Anecdotally, I know lots of sports fans and very few e-sports fans.
    - Larrikin 9y ago
      The esport fans I know have nearly zero overlap with the traditional sports fans. I don't think either is currently worried about losing their audience to the other.
dash2 9y ago
You big American softies. Cricket matches last FIVE DAYS, with breaks for tea.
- kcanini 9y ago
  Oh, like in Twenty20 cricket?
- droidist2 9y ago
  That sounds interesting! What about breaks for sleep?
  - chrisseaton 9y ago
    It's five days of play, during normal day-time hours. It's like a festival that you go to.
- komali2 9y ago
  Up to ten days if the Cranker can't get committee approval for third season overtime. (Sucks too cause then mandatory tea breaks swap out biscuits for bread and jam)
  - bsder 9y ago
    I think you're yanking my chain ... The fact that I can't tell says something about cricket ...
    - Symbiote 9y ago
      I took an American colleague to watch the cricket on the village green one lunchtime, just a few minutes from our office. Nothing professional, this was just the local cricket club. They bowled about four balls before there was a shout from the clubhouse, and all the players left the field to drink sparkling wine and eat strawberries. I think my colleague understood the spirit of the game.
- sooper 9y ago
joncrane 9y ago
I feel like fivethirtyeight is like the Freakonomics of sports.

88 points by wglb 9y ago

clw8 9y ago

They also need to play fewer games. The Cubs' star Anthony Rizzo said he would gladly take a pay cut. Teams play 162 games a year. That's just insane considering how demanding the sport is and how frequently players get injured.

pgrote 9y ago
I would think it'd only work if everyone in the game was willing to take x% off their revenue. If you take out 10% of the games, the revenue would fall off. If the schedule is reduced, a certain amount of payback or retroactive contract negotiation would have to occur with the myriad of networks paying to broadcast the games.
spike021 9y ago
I don't think they need to. Baseball's been run this way for decades, and people are only now complaining about the number of games per season. One part of the entire draw of baseball is that (usually) it's looked at more-so as a marathon of a sport. It's all about which teams can withstand the long season than not. You could have a 10 game win streak in May, but that doesn't make a difference in September if your team's division is still close. You need to have the health at that point and durability of players to continue to be successful, especially through the playoffs.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

kris-s 9y ago

One idea I'd like to see spread from competitive gaming is the willingness of the powers that be to adjust the sport to improve it. I don't know the exact details of how rules officially get changed in sports, but man does it seem painfully slow for any changes to be made (overpowered pitchers in baseball, no video reviews in soccer, etc). This is something I think MMA does really well, as the rules are mostly in place to prevent permanent injury and the "meta" seems to evolve nicely on its own. (I'd still like to see a version of MMA with no gloves - it would probably be much safer). I don't always agree with changes that come to my particular game of choice (Starcraft II) but I think the steady stream of small adjustments is a boon that other competitive venues should learn from.

philwelch 9y ago
The history of basketball is full of these: repeatedly widening the key because big men were OP, introducing offensive and defensive goaltending rules because big men were OP, outlawing zone defense in the NBA because zone defense was OP, followed by legalizing it because isos were OP. Baseball and soccer are two of the most traditional and conservative sports, so it's not as fair to single them out, even though baseball goes through periods of raising and lowering the pitchers' mound.
- unit91 9y ago
  What does "OP" mean in this context?
  - teraflop 9y ago
    "Overpowered." It's video game slang.
keerthiko 9y ago
I really think as eSports audiences begin to grow comparable to and threaten to overtake traditional sports (I predict 2022), conventional competitive rules are going to start adjusting with the goal of "keeping the game interesting to play and watch", rather than legacy. The younger eyeballs are rapidly being siphoned into eSports and mainstream events will have to start doing something to get their attention.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  > younger eyeballs are rapidly being siphoned into eSports and mainstream events will have to start doing something to get their attention What do the data on this look like? Anecdotally, I know lots of sports fans and very few e-sports fans.
  - Larrikin 9y ago
    The esport fans I know have nearly zero overlap with the traditional sports fans. I don't think either is currently worried about losing their audience to the other.

dash2 9y ago

You big American softies. Cricket matches last FIVE DAYS, with breaks for tea.

kcanini 9y ago
Oh, like in Twenty20 cricket?
droidist2 9y ago
That sounds interesting! What about breaks for sleep?
- chrisseaton 9y ago
  It's five days of play, during normal day-time hours. It's like a festival that you go to.
komali2 9y ago
Up to ten days if the Cranker can't get committee approval for third season overtime. (Sucks too cause then mandatory tea breaks swap out biscuits for bread and jam)
- bsder 9y ago
  I think you're yanking my chain ... The fact that I can't tell says something about cricket ...
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    I took an American colleague to watch the cricket on the village green one lunchtime, just a few minutes from our office. Nothing professional, this was just the local cricket club. They bowled about four balls before there was a shout from the clubhouse, and all the players left the field to drink sparkling wine and eat strawberries. I think my colleague understood the spirit of the game.
sooper 9y ago

joncrane 9y ago

I feel like fivethirtyeight is like the Freakonomics of sports.