REACH FOR A STAR Yanks & YES hoping Cole brings maximum eyeballs
Hal Steinbrenner paying Gerrit Cole $324 million over nine years is as much about bringing eyeballs to the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network as it is about winning World Series titles.
Last season provided evidence the Yankees still need mega-stars to move the TV ratings needle. Now that the Yankees are once again majority owners of YES, the television arm of the business is a major concern.
The Bombers produced an incredible 103 wins but their ratings on YES were down 17% in 2019. This dispelled the long-held notion that winning guarantees big-time ratings.
Two of the Yankees’ marquee attractions — Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton — missed significant playing time due to injuries. While this lack of starshine was not the only reasons for the ratings drop, it was a big factor. For most of the season the Yankees had no player “you had to see” hit or pitch.
Adding Cole to the mix, and the hype surrounding him going into the 2020 season, will entice more viewers, not just Yankees fans, to tune in when he pitches. YES, through its promotions, can beat the drums loudly and turn each of Cole’s starts into an event, must see TV, like SNY once did with Matt Harvey and now does with two-time Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom. Like those two Mets pitchers, Cole should be able to attract the casual fans, who need a special reason to even watch a baseball game.
The coming of Cole also changes the Yankee image. Steinbrenner’s decision to throw major moo-la-dee at Cole revives the perception of the Yankees as the Evil Empire, a team that will spend whatever it takes — more than any other franchise — to win a championship. With the Cole acquisition, the Yankees have gone from the likable, scrappy, no-name gang that almost made it to the World Series to the villain. This is good, very good, for Yankees business.
Fanatics love to hate. By purchasing the services of Cole for $324 million, Steinbrenner also makes the Yankees eminently hateable again.
For YES, loyal Yankees fans (the hardcore) are a captive audience. They will tune in with regularity. Yet while all of these fans will be watching to see Cole win, YES will now attract many added eyeballs: Yankee haters, tuning into the YES telecast to see if he loses.
While Cole, along with a healthy Judge and Stanton, brings star-power depth to YES, there are other factors that could again adversely impact YES’ ratings that are mostly out of the network’s control.
The early (6:30 p.m.) starts in the beginning and end of the season are a drag on TV ratings. Bad weather in the early season, which leads to re-scheduled games (sometimes doubleheaders) also has an adverse impact. Then there are baseball-wide problems, like pace of games. Or many teams that are not built to even compete.
Competing isn’t a problem for the Yankees. Two straight down years of ratings would be.
Cole better turn out to be YES’ ratings elixir.
CAN WAIT
Bart Scott will have plenty of time to pack his bags, leave WFAN, and move to ESPN-98.7.
FAN sources said because of a non-compete clause, Scott has been told he won’t be able to start at 98.7 until March or April. It’s safe to say the Free World can do without Scott for a few months while he’s on a forced hiatus.
Then again, FAN suits, who know Scott is bailing on them, have kept him on the air working with Maggie Gray. That’s fairly unusual. It’s not like the suits don’t have any other mouths to plug in.
Anyway, working the 2 p.m.-6 p.m. shift, Scott was rolling as he glommed plenty of airtime while showing off his baseball “expertise.” Simply fascinating.
POPE ON ICE
The Gasbags “lucky” enough to replace Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa , in WFAN’s afternoon drive slot, should take a deep breath before dealing with their own reality.
This is a tough spot. Expectations will be sky-high in terms of the ratings the new team gets coming out of the box. CMB (Chris Carlin, Gray, Scott) didn’t even have time to stir a cup of coffee before they were put on notice. Entercom/FAN suits panicked and begged Francesa to return.
Why will it be any different this time around? Have the suits suddenly changed their management style?
The fact they are paying Francesa for what really is a yet-to-be-determined gig, should tell friend and foe alike he’s one very large insurance policy management has should the new afternoondrive team go into the ratings tank early.
KNOWING THE NO-SHOWS
Information Gasbags appearing on NFL studio pregame shows have the evidence staring them right in the face, but never “report” on all the empty seats in NFL stadiums.
The lack of reporting is strange. Even in the NFL’s stone age, NFL snoops used to report the attendance, including how many no-shows (fans who purchased tickets but didn’t show up) there were.
Just watching all these games and seeing all the empty seats raises serious questions. Like have fans been priced out of the games?
Are they sick of incompetent ownership (hello Jets/Giants)? Is the in-stadium experience at these games become too repulsive? Has the quality of play slipped so much that it’s not worth going to a game?
Or have fans figured out that watching games at home is just a better experience?
It’s a subject worth investigating. Problem is it would likely mean studio Gasbags would have to lose the crucial segment where they analyze what a player is wearing when he walks into the stadium.