2023 schedule is released

[JimGinSP]

Random thoughts…….

Opening series coincides with Passover and Easter. 
The Friday off day coincides with the grand reopening of the remodeled Baltimore Arena.  First performance will be Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.  They are my other passion, I have my ticket!
Here’s hoping we knock the NYY’s out of the postseason this year to add spice!

[Ohfan67]

7 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

No one hates, you.

I don't 100% hate the balanced schedule in theory, it's the fact that they're putting interleague play in there and having us play teams that I (yes, I am being selfish here) have no interest in watching us play.   Hell, I barely have any interest in watching us play the A's, I'm certainly not interested in watching us play the Brewers.  I know, I know, but I will anyway.

I'd be more in favor of the balanced schedule if they eliminated the interleague play aspect from it.  I can't imagine fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates (if there are any left) are interested in games against the Rangers.  It's thrilling, I'm sure.  

Agree about interleague play. The novelty was initially interesting, but not for years. I would be fine if there was zero interleague play or if they had interleague play like every three or four years. 

[Ohfan67]

6 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

That's gotta be frustrating.  MLB needs to get rid of the blackouts, they're shooting themselves in the foot on that one and don't seem to care.  

I think the blackouts are still part of some of the older cable/sports channel contracts. I hope they can get rid of them as the contracts end and they reach new agreements. The blackouts are terrible. And if they keep them, then they should just be able to blackout one team. 

[DrungoHazewood]

8 hours ago, Ohfan67 said:

I think the blackouts are still part of some of the older cable/sports channel contracts. I hope they can get rid of them as the contracts end and they reach new agreements. The blackouts are terrible. And if they keep them, then they should just be able to blackout one team. 

I've not seen anything that indicates any resolution, I think your first sentence is fine if you get rid of "some" and "older".  If you live in the house by the Field of Dreams you're still blacked out of six different teams.

I think MLB knows that they make way more money off of mandatory basic cable fees for MASN than they would off of people choosing to plunk down $125 for MLB's own streaming package.  So any little thing they can do to stop people from cutting the cord.

[Ohfan67]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I've not seen anything that indicates any resolution, I think your first sentence is fine if you get rid of "some" and "older".  If you live in the house by the Field of Dreams you're still blacked out of six different teams.

I think MLB knows that they make way more money off of mandatory basic cable fees for MASN than they would off of people choosing to plunk down $125 for MLB's own streaming package.  So any little thing they can do to stop people from cutting the cord.

Just to be clear because I did not elaborate or explain, my hope is that the economic reality of the profits for streaming versus typical cable packages that include sports channels changes enough that ditching blackouts is the profitable move for MLB in the future. I don’t know what cable subscription numbers look like, but I assume they have been trending down for years. 

[Camden_yardbird]

Despite the distaste of most here this is a huge step forward for the league.  I look forward to seeing what a balanced schedule does for teams competitive chances.

It removes arbitrary schedule decisions.

National media get yearly games of large market v. large market to grow interest.  For example this year I think most general fans would rather see NYY vs. LAD/SD than games 14-19 of NYY vs. BOS.

Interleague happens, get over it.  AFC teams play NFC teams, East teams play West teams.

[ORIOLE33]

I love the new schedule. It makes it a lot more fair. Now a good team in a bad division can’t just rack up wins against a bunch of bad teams while a good team in a good division have to run a gauntlet. 

[phatty]

23 hours ago, RVAOsFan said:

I think following them out to Seattle and down to San Diego would be a pretty sweet vacation actually.

I agree - Love to travel to the away games. Just got back from Toronto last week. Having 3 kids on the road the players interact so much more with them out of town. Hoping to maybe figure out a way to hit two or 3 sites and possibly include Hawaii in the mix. 

[OriolesMagic83]

3 hours ago, Camden_yardbird said:

Despite the distaste of most here this is a huge step forward for the league.  I look forward to seeing what a balanced schedule does for teams competitive chances.

It removes arbitrary schedule decisions.

National media get yearly games of large market v. large market to grow interest.  For example this year I think most general fans would rather see NYY vs. LAD/SD than games 14-19 of NYY vs. BOS.

Interleague happens, get over it.  AFC teams play NFC teams, East teams play West teams.

It's going to reduce posting on the Hangout because there won't be any more threads about how the O's aren't good, can't make the playoffs, etc because they play in the AL East.