As Major League Baseball attempts to move away from the current Regional Sports Networks (RSN) model for a national broadcast package, the importance of local broadcasts is brought back into focus.
A national broadcast package could offer fans more access to their favorite teams, potentially eliminating blackout restrictions and offering a more streamlined viewing experience. At the same time, the league’s exploration of a national broadcast package reflects a broader trend in sports media, with leagues and teams increasingly looking to capitalize on the growth of streaming services.
But in capitalizing on the growth and attempting to grow the game, the league risks alienating its fans. You see, there’s a deep-rooted connection between fans of their favorite team and their local broadcast. It’s an unbreakable bond, one that the league keeps trying to test.
That will be on full display this weekend.
While moving away from local broadcasts in favor of a national model certainly has its appeal, there are also certain drawbacks. Some drawbacks are more tangible than others, but it’s worth noting that a weekend series between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Series underscores just how important local broadcasts are to a local fanbase.
This weekend, Major League Baseball has robbed Mets fans of hearing their beloved play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen and analysts Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez. Awful Announcing’s readers ranked it the No. 1 broadcast booth in the sport for a reason, and with the Mets in the crux of a pennant race, MLB has delivered a big middle finger to the Mets and its fans.
For 3 out of 4 games in the team’s final homestand of the 2024 regular season, one that could decide its fate as far as the playoffs are concerned, the games will not be broadcast on SNY. Instead, Thursday’s game was on Fox, mind you, while the New York Jets were playing their home opener, which was being shown on local Fox affiliates, in addition to being streamed in Amazon’s Prime Video, meaning Mets-Phillies was on WWOR (channel 9) in the New York area.
It’s a Fox exclusive, but the Jets were on Fox 5 locally. The tie doesn’t go to the team in the pennant race, as the Mets were booted to another channel in the New York area, and no, the game was not accessible on SNY. Friday will be on Apple TV+, while Sunday’s game will be on ESPN.
This means Cohen, Darling, and Hernandez will have one call on Saturday. And while Major League Baseball wants to take advantage of one of the teams in the biggest markets fighting tooth and nail to secure the final wild-card spot in the National League, it’s robbing its fans of a uniquely personal experience.
Sidelining an announcing crew that’s as important to the team as Grimace is undoubtedly a choice one can make. And while it’d be presumptuous of us to argue that the Mets fanbase has the strongest connection to their announcers than any other in the league, but you could certainly make the argument as such.
This is not supposed to be a dig against national broadcasters, but they don’t have as much skin in the game as the Gary Cohens of the world. Cohen has been a Mets fan since his childhood and wears his fandom on his sleeve. He’s not a shill by any stretch of the imagination, but when it’s time for him to meet the moment, there’s no way quite like him.
And in a season that’s been filled with moments, you’re asking the passion of the SNY booth to step aside, even as the Mets hold a thin two-game lead for the final wild card spot over the Atlanta Braves. Amidst a late-season four-game series with a division rival, people want to hear their local announcers.
These aren’t games that are used for background noise, it’s ones that fans are tuned in for every pitch. There’s not a fanbase like the New York Mets that lives and dies with every pitch, just ask Jeff Passan. But with less than 10 games remaining, every single pitch counts — and means something.
Just like every single word that the SNY crew utters; it’s crunch time, after all.
In an effort to grow the game and broaden its reach, Major League Baseball may be risking one of its most sacred connections — the bond between local fans and their beloved broadcast teams. For Mets fans, in particular, this weekend’s series isn’t just another set of games; it’s part of their identity.
Taking away the voices of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez during such a crucial stretch feels like a betrayal. As MLB looks to the future, it must not forget that for Mets fans, hearing those familiar voices call every pitch in the heat of a pennant race is just as important as the game itself.
