More Videos
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- NBA D-League On The Rise
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Boise State Stock Plan: An Early Success
- Dollar Signs Seen In Young "Buck" Jennings
- Iverson Wasn't A Popular "Answer"
- My Top 10 Marketing Ideas For Winless Nets
- Airlines Add 'Super Bowl' Tax
- Chicken Wing Finder Makes Debut
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- Chinese Overcapacity is Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Topless Business Is Taking Off
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- Black Friday to Avoid Red Ink; Greenback Gets the Blues
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Fed to Counsel Moviegoers on How to Use Credit Cards
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
Sports Biz
Text Size 
 |
AP Tampa Bay Rays |
Every time a Cinderella comes to the party like this, I'm always asked the same question by some radio host. Isn't the great story of the FILL IN THE BLANK HERE team worth some eyeballs?
And the answer is no. The bottom line if the Rays made it to the World Series, they'd arguably be the most anonymous team to ever make it there.
You've got a rookie in Evan Longoria. A guy who couldn't crack the Yankees roster in Carlos Pena. And the casual baseball fan would not be able to name one of the pitchers in their starting five. Cinderella stories have proven over and over again that they're good to a point. And then it crumbles.
March Madness is about the cinderella and yet when George Mason played Florida in the semifinals of the tournament in 2006 ratings were down 9 percent from the year before when Illinois played Louisville.
Now there is a catch to all of this. The key phrase here is "all else being equal."
The reason I say that is because TV executives would rather have the Red Sox play over the Rays. But if the Red Sox and the Rays play the same opponent in the World Series and the Red Sox play in a four-game series and the Rays play in a seven-game series, it's very possible that the Rays series could out rate the Red Sox series. Why? Because history shows that interest builds, for the most part, especially for Games 6 and 7.
The 1997 Florida Marlins was also a no-name team. When they played the Cleveland Indians in 1997, the series averaged a 16.7 ratings, in part because Game 7 drew more than double the ratings that Game 1 did.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes