Fox Baseball ads

The scene is a rehabilitation center somewhere, possibly in a hospital. A man with braces on both legs is attempting to walk again using his hands and bars to hold him up since his legs are clearly not strong enough to support him. A trainer is assisting the man, encouraging him to walk towards him.

Suddenly, the trainer turns away, his attention caught by something off camera. The man falls backward awkwardly but the trainer offers no assistance. Instead, the trainer is transfixed, staring offscreen. Finally, his lips move a little and we hear him say, “Giles always crushes that pitcher.” The fallen patient exclaims, “Can I get some help here?” but gets no help, only a finger advising him to wait.

From what the trainer says, you’ve figured out that this is a commercial for a baseball team. Absurd as it may be and as little as it may have to do with baseball, somebody has decided that this is the best way to get people to watch baseball on TV. That somebody is an executive at Fox television, the real power that rules baseball.

Through the magic of baseball’s Extra innings package, anyone can watch baseball games televised on the various regional Fox Sports networks around the country. You can watch almost every major league game on most nights. Besides the fact that the game of baseball is being played, there is another similarity to what each of these channels airs during the games: this same tv ad.

The only difference is a subtle dubbing of the line spoken by the trainer. In Pittsburgh, you hear “Giles always crushes that pitcher.” In San Francisco, “Giles” becomes “Bonds”. In Cincinnati, it’s “Griffey” who does the crushing. And so on, with each regional network dubbing their stars name into the line. That is the only change in the ad as it airs from New York to Los Angeles.

The obvious question this raises is not the important question. The obvious question is who in the world thought this was an effective commercial, that somehow a baseball game was so compelling that it causes people to completely lose track of their surroundings resulting in disastrous results. This isn’t the only ad that Fox runs in this manner. They have been doing it for over a year now and while there is a miniscule amount of humor buried in the commercial, what I take away from the ads are how stupid and pointless they are. There is no connection to baseball and nothing that makes someone want to attend or even watch a game. They are dumb and pointlessly stupid commercials.

But there is a bigger issue: who runs baseball and are they looking out for the welfare of the game and its franchises?

The Pirates are not one of baseball’s elite franchises. To be successful, they need everything to go right for them and they cannot afford to waste money. They have in the past and it has crippled them, on and off the field and they are still struggling to rebound. Their money management is so tight that any extra dollars spent promoting the team must be welcomed, perhaps to the point where they are not concerned about the long term effect these Fox ads are creating.

The best way to promote baseball, if you’re not Bill Veeck, is to promote the game. If you are able to sell fans on the game, you can be more confident that they will return year after year since the game stays the same year after year. The allure of PNC Park has already worn off. Pierogi races don’t draw fans. Fireworks can’t be shot off every gamenight. Bobbleheads come and go. Selling the game also leads to a deeper understanding of the game, an understanding that can find reason t support the local nine through dark times if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

A fan of the game comes to watch the players perform and even if the team is not good, there is something in every game that a fan can watch and admire and may not see again the entire season. A fan of fireworks comes to the game, doesn’t pay attention to the game, is more easily agitated when the team is losing and gets most excited after the home team has gone to the clubhouse.

However, despite its need to develop a strong fan base, Pirate marketing efforts have been laughable. Not since their “We Play Hardball” campaign of the late 80s have the marketing efforts focused on the game and the team. The success of the early 90s and the large crowds provided a perfect opportunity to grow new fans on the game, but little headway was made and as soon as the free agents left town and success faded, so too did the attendance. From the mid 90s on, marketing efforts were overshadowed by threats to move the team, its financial problems and the momentous battle to build PNC Park, none of which cast positive light on the Pirates. Recent years have featured PNC Park and giveaways as the central focus of advertising and marketing efforts.

Finally this season things seemed to be coming around for the Pirates. The team brought in several players that juiced the fans. Optimism was higher for the 2003 Pirates than at any point over the past 10 years. Marketing centered on the players and not promotions that have nothing to do with the game.

Yet here we are and while the Pirates have stumbled badly on the field so far, they have been worse off the field because of their inability to draw fans. Those who have come to PNC Park have been treated to lousy baseball and more losses for the home team than any other team in the majors. In this situation the Pirates wallow, trying to dig out of a seemingly deepening hole. There is no more effective marketing tool than a winning team, yet an effective strategy would be able to minimize the impact that losing has. But it hasn’t.

And worse, they allow Fox TV executives to effectively sabotage Pirate marketing efforts by airing these senseless ads. To fans, there is no differentiating between the Fox ads and the Bucs ads. They both sell the same product, just with different messages and imagery. Conflicting messages and imagery. The Pirates have allowed their marketing efforts to be derailed by Fox.

Then again, Fox delivers the TV money so the Pirates won’t complain about the erosion of goodwill and mindshare that a conflicting and diluted marketing message creates during such a critical time for the Pirates to capitalize on a strong, focused and game friendly message.

Fox clearly doesn’t care about the individual markets and by not objecting to the TV execs, it seems that the Pirates don’t care about the long term in their current market either. So why should I?