SI

MLB Allowing Fox to Treat NLCS Like an Afterthought Is So Depressing

Relegating the LCS to FS1 while Fox airs the “Masked Singer” is a slap in the face to MLB.

Jimmy Traina

Rob Manfred should do a better job with baseball's television situation.
Rob Manfred should do a better job with baseball's television situation. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

1. I threw out this tweet last night and woke up to it having 40,000 likes for some reason, so I just want to expand on it and address some of the more ignorant responses I received:

"I'm sorry but the NLCS airing on FS1 while the Masked F--ing Singer airs on Fox is such an embarrassment for MLB."

For the dummies who tried to tell me the Masked Singer gets better ratings than an LCS series, the show averaged 3.1 million viewers last season.

Game 1 of the Dodgers-Mets series, which aired on Fox, averaged 8.26 million viewers. In addition, Game 5 of the Padres-Dodgers series, which aired on Fox, drew 8.5 million viewers.

You also have the two biggest markets in the country playing in the NLCS. I know facts don’t matter in 2024, but those are the facts.

But the point of my tweet wasn’t about numbers. It’s about perception. Airing on FS1 instead of Fox looks low rent for MLB. It doesn’t help the narrative that “baseball is dying” or “baseball is for old people” when the network airing the LCS doesn’t think enough of baseball to put it on the channel that will get the game the most eyeballs.

Some people said to me, “what about the ALCS airing on TBS?”

The difference is that Turner Sports doesn’t have a broadcast channel to air the ALCS. Fox intentionally goes out of its way to not air the NLCS on broadcast TV.

If Fox decided to stick an NFL game on FS1 instead of Fox, Roger Goodell might drive to the Fox Sports offices and set them on fire. Baseball allows itself to be treated like second-class citizens and if you’re a baseball fan, it sucks.

Hell, the sport even sold a package of Sunday morning games to Roku this season. That’s all you need to know about where baseball is right now.

One of the phrases all leagues like to use over and over and over is “growing the game, growing the game, growing the game.”

You can grow the game much more by airing the LCS on Fox instead of FS1. But again, this is about perception. This is the National League Championship Series. A trip to the World Series is on the line. And the game is on FS1 while Fox is airing the Masked Singer? Horrible.

In addition to the perception, this is the reality of what happens when Major League Baseball allows Fox to treat the LCS like garbage.

I also received many responses to my tweet from viewers who either had a hard time finding the game because it wasn't on Fox, or did not have access to FS1 and therefore couldn't watch it.

Good job, MLB and Fox.

2. By airing on FS1 instead of Fox, many people missed this great story from Derek Jeter about Jerry Seinfeld and the Baja Men.

3. A brand-new SI Media Podcast dropped this morning and it’s an all–Traina Thoughts, all-Mailbag edition with Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY.

Among the questions and topics: How will Tom Brady be affected as a broadcaster by the new restrictions put on him once he became a part-owner of the Raiders? Are Joe Buck and Troy Aikman ESPN’s biggest win over the past five years? Will Bob Costas ever call postseason baseball again? What changes should Major League Baseball make to the way the sport is broadcasted during the playoffs? The problem with the WNBA’s schedule during the Finals. Which games should the NFL and NBC consider flexing out of Sunday Night Football? Where does Bobby “The Brain” Heenan rank among the greatest analysts in sports history?

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

4. Hell of a stat here regarding Shohei Ohtani, who homered in the Dodgers’ 8–0 win against the Mets last night.

5. Adrian Wojnarowski opened up about leaving sports media on the Eye on College Basketball Podcast and he said it was not a hard decision.

6. It seems that @greg16676935420 has major, major issues with clogging toilets.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 52nd birthday to Eminem.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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