When baseball was king. All the games were on local radio, and often on remote stations (Ronald Reagan famously announced games off a telegraph feed in Des Moines, Iowa for the Cubs). Well into the 70s, nearly all the Yankees and Red Sox games were on WPIX and WSBK over the air. All 162 Cubs games were broadcast on WGN.
Baseball, and hockey, and basketball chased the money. Pay cable was a drug that created quick hit of cash . . . at the cost of long-term fan support.
Now, baseball gets worse ratings than the NFL draft and pre-season exhibition games. The number of true “baseball” towns can be counted on one-hand (Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, maybe Los Angeles). Baseball playoffs have been watered down with proliferation, and as the number of games multiplies the ratings for each game dwindles.
The NFL should not stupidly go down the same path.
All the Cubs games are now on the Marquee Network, and I’m lucky if I can get to watch 3 games all season. Comcast has the Marquee Network, and we axed Comcast a couple years ago- it was getting just too expensive. Now I have the ROKU and antenna channels, but if I want to see Cubs games on a regular schedule, I have to pay extra for Marquee. I sure as hell can’t afford to attend games at Wrigley.
Eventually we’ll have to pay exorbitant prices for EVERYTHING- cellphones, TV, internet, radio. I guess that’s ONE way to get around the 1st Amendment….