The 2014 Major League Baseball postseason gets under way Tuesday night, with several new wrinkles.
In the first year of a new television deal, the baseball playoffs will air on five different channels. In addition to TBS, FOX and MLB Network, each of which aired games last year, postseason action will also air on ESPN and Fox Sports 1.
FS1 is the most notable of the two newcomers, as it will air the bulk of the National League playoffs. The network is set to air all-but-two games each of the N.L. Division Series and Championship Series, including a possible Game 7 of the NLCS. The games will be the highest-profile programming ever on the fledgling network, which failed to attract many viewers for its regular season baseball coverage this season.
Since rebranding from Speed Channel in August 2013, FS1’s top audiences have been for NASCAR events — 3.5 million for the Sprint Unlimited in February, 3.4 million for the All-Star Race in May and 3.2 million for bonus coverage of the Bristol race in March. Its stick-and-ball properties have not done as well, with college football topping out at 2.2 million for Oregon/Oregon State last year , college basketball topping out at 702,000 for the Big East Championship Game and baseball averaging fewer than 500,000 viewers through mid-September.
Last year, TBS averaged 3.9 million viewers for the full Division Series and 5.0 million for the NLCS. Still more of a destination for motorsports than baseball, FS1 is unlikely to match those numbers this year. Still, anything close would be a major success for the network.
ESPN is the other newcomer this year, airing MLB postseason action for the first time since 2006. Once a major player in baseball’s playoff picture, ESPN only has rights to one Wild Card game per year — but that is still a good deal better than being shut out entirely.
With only regular season games on its schedule, ESPN has rarely attracted big audiences for Major League Baseball in recent years. In fact, the network’s most watched baseball game since 2007 – the first season it was left out of the playoff mix — was a Little League game between Nevada and Pennsylvania this past August (5.0M) . Wednesday’s Giants/Pirates Wild Card game may not quite top that audience (last year’s N.L. Wild Card game had 4.6 million on TBS), but it should still give ESPN one of its best baseball numbers in years.
As for the incumbents, TBS figures to hold up well despite losing much of its playoff inventory. The network has the entire American League playoffs, and the A.L. traditionally attracts better postseason ratings than the N.L. (though the absence of the Yankees and Red Sox may wipe out that advantage). MLB Network should see increased numbers for its coverage, which for the first time includes a primetime game (Cardinals/Dodgers Game 2 on Saturday night).
FOX, however, figures to see declines. The network is slated to air only two games before the World Series, both on Saturday nights (Games 1 and 6 of the NLCS). The new World Series schedule may avoid NFL competition, but it also puts Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday, respectively — the two lowest rated nights of the week.
A possible complication for all the networks is the potential that the sheer number of outlets proves confusing for viewers. Depending on the results of the Wild Card games, Thursday’s playoff schedule could ping-pong viewers from FS1 (Noon) to TBS (3 PM) back to FS1 (6:30 PM) and then back to TBS (9:30/10 PM). It could be even worse on Monday, with games potentially airing on TBS, FS1 and MLB Network. That may not be such a concern two or three years from now, but it figures to be an adjustment for viewers in year one.
Paulsen is the founder of Sports Media Watch and a contributor for Sporting News. Follow him on Twitter @Paulsen_SMW .