Pretty sad....

Lettuce

All-Conference
Jun 24, 2024
937
1,071
93
While we are bitching, never ever should you take the series on rd at Vanderbilt and be penalized.

Just 17ed. Carry on
 

mstateglfr

All-American
Feb 24, 2008
16,077
5,886
113

Pretty sad....​


 
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bulldoghair

All-Conference
Jul 9, 2013
2,593
2,010
108
...that we have a top 5 national baseball matchup and the only way to see it is on the SEC+ Network streaming venue. No ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, nor anywhere else.
If you’re having trouble watching- our baseball games can be found always live on YouTube. It never gets taking down because no one cares that much about college baseball nationally and objectively speaking. If you have trouble next game let me know and I’ll send you the link.
 

mcdawg22

Heisman
Sep 18, 2004
13,221
10,922
113
Get prepared, that’s the way all sports are headed. At some time in the future, the Super Bowl will be pay per view.
Sports are more accessible than ever on broadcast. 20 years ago there was no guarantee our football game was going to be on TV and there certainly weren’t any college baseball games on until the CWS. Sports are the only live thing that is valuable for its ad revenue now with people recording shows. Broadcast TV will still want it on network/cable TV.
 

Ranchdawg

All-Conference
Dec 13, 2012
4,524
3,774
113
It is possible that over time it will draw more attention as the product improves. Pitchers at small schools are throwing in the 90s now. Games are more competitive. Look at the SEC midweek losses.
 

thekimmer

All-Conference
Aug 30, 2012
8,244
2,224
113
You better embrace it for the time being, because it's the only thing we can afford to be good in.

No asterisks needed.

Cornhole, pickleball, poker, and even drone racing are more popular and have a more widely available national tv window.
Those events are prerecorded and packaged in a 1 hour program for casual channel surfer viewing. A live baseball game that takes a minimum of 2.5 hours to complete is just a different animal.
 

PrimeDog

Senior
Jan 2, 2025
656
728
93
Sports are more accessible than ever on broadcast. 20 years ago there was no guarantee our football game was going to be on TV and there certainly weren’t any college baseball games on until the CWS. Sports are the only live thing that is valuable for its ad revenue now with people recording shows. Broadcast TV will still want it on network/cable TV.
You can definitely tell the difference in ages of posters when these topics come up.

Pre-1990 before the conference expansion and championship, MSU and Ole Miss were lucky to get the TBS game once or twice a season and that was usually to be the sacrificial lamb to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, or LSU when we could barely score much less have a chance to win.

Hell even into the mid 90s basketball only had a midweek and a couple of weekend JP games. CBS only showed Kentucky games for the most part. And the Jackson affiliate didn’t even show the Wednesday night JP game if it didn’t involve State or Ole Miss.

Baseball? Yea right. You were lucky to see one game on TV before the SECT and Regionals.
 
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POTUS

Heisman
Sep 29, 2022
3,953
10,406
113
I bet they don't, and it wouldn't anyway.
It’s not like they don’t have the data. If college baseball was being streamed by enough people, then they’d be selling that to advertisers and putting it on wider platforms. They run a business not a charity. If they can squeeze more money out of something, they will.
 
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Pilgrimdawg

All-Conference
Aug 30, 2018
1,736
2,242
113
If Alabama was any good in baseball the SEC network would probably carry all of their games and Paul F would gush over them every friggin day.
 

MSUDC11-2.0

Heisman
Sep 29, 2022
9,065
14,216
113
We’re not terribly far into the SEC+ era to be honest. Pre 2015, it was a good year if 5 of our games were on any TV or streaming the whole year. Unless you want to count the old Maroon to the Max which never worked successfully the few times I tried it.

The concept of every game including random midweeks being on streaming is only about a decade old.

ESPNU started airing a Thursday night package in about 2011, and that helped baseball’s visibility, and then the SECN opened the floodgates a few years later.
 

00Dawg

Senior
Nov 10, 2009
3,225
522
93
CWS Championship: 2.5M viewers
WNBA Championship: 1.9M viewers

They are certainly in the same neighborhood.
After years of advertising and pushing the sport by the network that chooses what to show. Even after over a decade of ESPN pushing women's sports, it's still an argument over which is more popular between those two or between baseball and softball. Imagine if ESPN had chosen to push college baseball instead?
 

bulldoghair

All-Conference
Jul 9, 2013
2,593
2,010
108
Those events are prerecorded and packaged in a 1 hour program for casual channel surfer viewing. A live baseball game that takes a minimum of 2.5 hours to complete is just a different animal.
Come on, that’s a weak excuse and you know it. If baseball was truly popular outside of a few passionate pockets like Starkville, the big games would be on ESPN2 or ESPNU at least some of the time. Instead, even the best regular season series matchups are treated like niche streaming content. That’s not because the games are “too long.” They show 4 hour golf tournaments where literally nothing happens for 45 minutes at a time. They show poker marathons where grown men stare at cards in silence. The format is not the problem- It’s because the broader audience just isn’t there. Not as many people care outside of Starkville as our baseball fans think. Go watch it on YouTube for free.
 

POTUS

Heisman
Sep 29, 2022
3,953
10,406
113
After years of advertising and pushing the sport by the network that chooses what to show. Even after over a decade of ESPN pushing women's sports, it's still an argument over which is more popular between those two or between baseball and softball. Imagine if ESPN had chosen to push college baseball instead?
So what you’re saying is, the only reason college baseball isn’t mainstream is because there’s an agenda at ESPN to push women’s sports. That’s a take for sure.

They definitely push women’s sports. Which they should. It’s 50% of the population and most of the male half already consumes their content. Good business decision. But I’m afraid the lack of popularity for college baseball has nothing to do with that.
 

00Dawg

Senior
Nov 10, 2009
3,225
522
93
So what you’re saying is, the only reason college baseball isn’t mainstream is because there’s an agenda at ESPN to push women’s sports. That’s a take for sure.

They definitely push women’s sports. Which they should. It’s 50% of the population and most of the male half already consumes their content. Good business decision. But I’m afraid the lack of popularity for college baseball has nothing to do with that.
I don’t think of WNBA or softball as mainstream, so no. It would have a bigger fan base , though.

I also think we have to wait on ESPN’s business decision at this juncture. The WNBA lost hundreds of millions getting to 2025, and after one year of profitability, now is set for more years of bigger losses as they finally have to pay players something that doesn’t require them to have an offseason job, and that’s with the new media deal. Clark was the miracle they needed to not be subsidized for a year, but can they get there year in and year out?