All home Saturday games will start at 4:05 in 2024!

[Tony-OH]

Orioles to open 2024 season at Oriole Park, introduce tweaks to home game start times - CBS Baltimore (cbsnews.com)

This is just dumb. Some of us actually enjoy a Saturday evening out at a local sports bar or watching from home on a Saturday night. I get pushing them up pre Memorial day because of the cold, but mid summer? Just dumb all around.

[sportsfan8703]

Seems like they're trying to tap into the more "family crowd" that comes to Sunday games.  Plus queue the whole families don't want to be in Baltimore after Saturday night games.  

[LookinUp]

I hate being in Oriole Park for hot summer day games. It's only bearable if you're in the shade. I suppose you'll get more shade at 4 than 1, but this is still stupid, IMO. Night games are fun, particularly when you don't have to get up for work/school in the AM.

[NCRaven]

I prefer Saturday evening games, but I'm sure this wasn't done randomly.  They clearly have data that makes them think that this makes sense, even if some of us don't particularly care for it.  I just wish they'd pass a law that all west coast games must start at 7pm Eastern time. 

 

[Frobby]

Saturday late afternoon games aren’t bad in that they allow you to have dinner somewhere afterwards instead of filling up on bad stadium good.  The sun angle can be brutal on the outfielders at that time though, plus you get shadows between the mound and home plate a lot of the time.   

[Sports Guy]

I’d much rather have a 405 game, especially since I’m not keen on taking my kids down to that city late on a Saturday night.

[ThisIsBirdland]

Having really young kids (under three), this helps us a lot actually. Anything after 7pm is too late for a game, week days are tough, and our kid doesn't do well without an early afternoon nap. I can't believe I'm in that specific of a niche where this is perfect for my family, but I'll take it!

[waroriole]

John trying to save money on the light bills?

[Tony-OH]

I can see this working for young families, but I'll miss many more games due to other commitments on my Saturday afternoons.

Of course, the Orioles will probably just sell off the TV broadcast rights to the Lifetime Plus channel just to try and make Orioles fans get another streaming service anyways all while not offering a truly streaming service for in area viewers forcing us to buy basic cable.

[Sanfran327]

9 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I can see this working for young families, but I'll miss many more games due to other commitments on my Saturday afternoons.

Of course, the Orioles will probably just sell off the TV broadcast rights to the Lifetime Plus channel just to try and make Orioles fans get another streaming service anyways all while not offering a truly streaming service for in area viewers forcing us to buy basic cable.

To be fair, there's probably a large intersection of fans that subscribe to Lifetime Plus and prefer 4p start times to the ungodly late 7p start times.

[kidrock]

I like this as I have 4 kids and the games going past 10 can be tough.  I do agree that night games are cool though, especially in the hot summer.

Why not games at 530 or something.  Split the difference.

Or do: 4pm in March, April, May, September, October 

and

7pm: June, July, August

[NCRaven]

Downtown restaurants should like this too.  Much better for any local entertainment venues.

[InsideCoroner]

I’m not complaining since I live six time zones ahead, so now I’ll be able to watch both the Saturday and Sunday games live. But I’m curious what logic drove this decision. Is any other club doing this?

[Sanfran327]

Afternoon/daylight games are (IMO) FAR superior to night games. Chicago and NY teams play plenty of them. It's just a nice aesthetic. And as a fan, whether I'm attending a game with or without my kids, I like the early start times. The scene around the stadium and at the harbor is much livelier during the day than at night. This is nothing but a good thing.

[Snutchy]

This actually works well for me because I can take my kids to a day game and it won’t be as blistering hot. I can also get back home on the shore at a respectable time. I think this will get more folks from the shore in the seats.