Holidays tend to be huge occasions for the major sports leagues, but Mike Francesa believes Major League Baseball can do a lot more to provide fans with better and more meaningful matchups.
Thanksgiving is an institution in the NFL and produces some of the most watched television events annually. The NBA once had Christmas Day all to themselves as their big regular season showcase, until the NFL also decided to enter onto their turf. However, the league has also loaded up Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents’ Day with quadrupleheaders this year to provide even more holiday basketball. And New Year’s Day has been associated with college football for generations.
But when it comes to holiday baseball, MLB is often lacking.
The league stepped up this year in its attempt to turn the July 4th into more of a marquee event for the sport. That included the first “Star-Spangled Sunday” where Peacock aired all 15 MLB games on its streaming platform for the first time.
But when it comes to the Labor Day holiday, baseball isn’t putting the same effort forward. And that’s where Mike Francesa takes issue, especially when it comes to the New York Yankees. The longtime New York radio host was in disbelief over the fact that the Bronx Bombers will have the holiday off.
Mike Francesa eviscerates MLB for not optimizing major holidays with the Yankees off on Labor Day pic.twitter.com/JHaWbb5KXs
— Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) August 21, 2026
“Baseball is absolutely clueless when they don’t set up, not only have everybody play on their three big holidays, but set up premium matchups on their big holidays. I mean, you have the New York Yankees off on Labor Day. It’s mindless. It’s absolutely mindless. But I’ve yelled about that for so long I give up. Because baseball just doesn’t acknowledge it,” Francesa said.
At least in regards to this year’s Labor Day schedule, it’s true. MLB has 11 games scheduled for the holiday and the only one on national television is NBC televising Cardinals-Giants on Monday night. A number of games will be played throughout the day, including an appetizing Cubs-Brewers matchup, but they won’t be given a national platform. It’s also worth noting that the NBC game will have college football competition with SMU-Florida State on ESPN that night.
Could MLB do more about their Labor Day schedule and holiday approach? Yes, of course. Not having multiple nationally televised games and top teams and matchups is a miss. But at the same time, you can understand why it’s not such a huge focus for the sport. The three MLB holidays – Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day – aren’t exactly built for people around the country to be parked in front of the television. It’s not Thanksgiving and Christmas when much of the country is stuck inside during the winter months.
But at least baseball can do Mike Francesa a favor and put the Yankees on Labor Day so they can finally make him happy.
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