ESPN to air MLB Draft

[dmcdougal]

I just wanted to throw this story out there in case some of you missed it today. It is the first time that the MLB will be shown on television.

I thought this was interesting because I've never seen how the MLB draft works. It's on June 7th, so I'm sure that I'll try and catch some of it just so I can see how it works. Is anyone else interested in watching the MLB Draft on ESPN? I think it's a pretty cool story.

[MadThinker88]

I'm interested. While I don't follow the baseball draft like I do the football draft, I would be interested in watching this year's draft.

Guess its time to put in for a day off from the new job

[consigliere]

Trust me, it will make for horrible TV.

First, there are NO trades of draft picks. Also, it is one large conference call, and the GMs or reps from each team usually make picks within minutes/seconds of each other. All you get, for example, is "This is Mark Shapiro, GM Cleveland Indians, and we select XXXX from XXXXXX." Then a few seconds later, "This is Brian Sabean, GM San Francisco, and we select XXX from XXXX." Truly the oddest thing to follow. Nothing remotely close to the NBA and NFL drafts.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

I just wanted to throw this story out there in case some of you missed it today. It is the first time that the MLB will be shown on television.

I thought this was interesting because I've never seen how the MLB draft works. It's on June 7th, so I'm sure that I'll try and catch some of it just so I can see how it works. Is anyone else interested in watching the MLB Draft on ESPN? I think it's a pretty cool story.

I'd rather watch a tractor pull.

Of course, I'm also one who doesn't watch the NFL draft. I follow the outcome just as I do for the MLB and NBA drafts, but I find nothing exciting about watching any draft. Joe Thomas got it right when he went fishing instead. I often just head over to one of the theme parks for part of the day.

[Kuiper]

Trust me, it will make for horrible TV.

First, there are NO trades of draft picks. Also, it is one large conference call, and the GMs or reps from each team usually make picks within minutes/seconds of each other. All you get, for example, is "This is Mark Shapiro, GM Cleveland Indians, and we select XXXX from XXXXXX." Then a few seconds later, "This is Brian Sabean, GM San Francisco, and we select XXX from XXXX." Truly the oddest thing to follow. Nothing remotely close to the NBA and NFL drafts.

In other words, it's probably exactly what the NFL and NBA draft were before they started being aired on TV. If ESPN is involved, then the draft will evolve to be more of an event and a spectacle. It may not happen the first year, but a MLB version of Mel Kiper or Hubie Brown will emerge and ESPN will dictate changes designed to increase viewers. Some of these changes may even be substantive (such as more time for picks in round 1).

[consigliere]

I don't think the MLB draft could ever really succeed. It will be cool that it is on TV as you can check it out if you want.....but the difference between the MLB draft and the NBA/NFL draft is people usually know who the guys are who are drafted in the first few rounds because college basketball and football are on the TV and talked about everyday. Can't say the same for college baseball or high school baseball.

[Kuiper]

I don't think the MLB draft could ever really succeed. It will be cool that it is on TV as you can check it out if you want.....but the difference between the MLB draft and the NBA/NFL draft is people usually know who the guys are who are drafted in the first few rounds because college basketball and football are on the TV and talked about everyday. Can't say the same for college baseball or high school baseball.

I don't think that's really the major problem. For the NFL draft, few people really know more than a couple of the players (especially outside the skill positions) and most are relying on mock drafts and expert rankings anyway. In fact, most fans are homers and can't understand why the players they do know fall so far or go undrafted. For the NBA draft, few people have seen the Euro players and even fewer ever saw the HS ballers when they were eligible. The real problem is that there is an active minor league in baseball and virtually no draft pick is going to have an effect on your team in the next season or two. That certainly reduces the instant infusion of optimism for next season that the other drafts provide. Nevertheless, for a network that televises all sorts of niche activities like poker and billiards and strong man competitions, the baseball draft is a perfect way to capitalize on the obsessive quality of certain fans that frequent internet message boards. Moreover, they will draw in experts and draft guides and the size of that niche audience will grow. It's a very marketable commodity because the demographics of the followers will be in the sweet zone for advertisers. It's also fairly cheap to televise it.

[consigliere]

the real problem is that there is an active minor league in baseball and virtually no draft pick is going to have an effect on your team in the next season or two. That certainly reduces the instant infusion of optimism for next season that the other drafts provide. Nevertheless, for a network that televises all sorts of niche activities like poker and billiards and strong man competitions, the baseball draft is a perfect way to capitalize on the obsessive quality of certain fans that frequent internet message boards. Moreover, they will draw in experts and draft guides and the size of that niche audience will grow. It's a very marketable commodity because the demographics of the followers will be in the sweet zone for advertisers. It's also fairly cheap to televise it.

Completely agree with all that.

I know I am looking forward to it. I have listened to it on-line the last 2-3 years.

[MadThinker88]

Perhaps a group of us can get together to watch this draft with a couple of brews. I figure that would be a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.