OnlyBucs

TV ratings down last year and again this year.



http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pira ... 1500476987



ack in 2007, a group of fans frustrated with Pirates ownership over the team’s meager payroll staged a walkout during a game at PNC Park. It fizzled, but that call to rebellion has lingered in the fan base ever since. Even when the Pirates made the playoffs three consecutive years from 2013-15, it was hard to get too far into any conversation about the club’s spending without someone piping up to say they don’t want to give owner Bob Nutting another dime of their money, lest he hoard it rather than reinvest it adequately into the roster.



A decade later, the Pirates are back under .500, and fans seem to be following that logic more and more. Attendance is down to 24,110 fans per game this season compared to 27,768 a year ago and 30,847 in 2015, this as the opening day payroll was ranked 26th in MLB and off about $8.4 million from where it ended 2016.



The most jarring development, however, may have come Monday.



Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and David Broughton reported that the Pirates’ local TV ratings on AT&T Sportsnet, formerly Root Sports, are down 27 percent this season after a 21 percent decline last year.



The Pirates’ contract with the cable channel is up in 2019, and strong ratings are key to improving upon a deal that’s widely seen as a millstone. The Post-Gazette has reported the current one pays the club about $20 million annually, though Fangraphs estimates the number is $25 million. Team executives including president Frank Coonelly have disputed that number in the past, saying it’s higher.



Regardless, dwindling ratings make what’s already a small media market smaller for negotiation purposes. It’s hard to imagine Nutting getting the payday he likely wants if the audience available for advertisers is a fraction of what it was just a couple of years ago.



And so the pressure is on. While ownership may be able to ride out year-to-year fluctuations in attendance, a bad TV deal can haunt it for the long-term, as those deals can last a decade or more. The current contract, for example, took effect in 2010.



Adding value to the franchise means bringing eyeballs back. Bringing eyeballs back means putting a more attractive product on the field. Putting a more attractive product on the field means, to some extent, more spending.



Yes, it’s true that some crummy breaks beyond the team’s control have contributed to the ratings plunge. Outfielder Starling Marte’s drug suspension hasn’t helped, nor have third baseman Jung Ho Kang’s visa issues following a string of DUIs in South Korea. The Pirates aren’t alone in losing ratings ground either. Eighteen of MLB’s 29 U.S.-based teams have lost viewership this season.



Only four others, though, have lost more than 25 percent year-over-year, and it’s impossible to separate that kind of apathy from an offseason in which the Pirates did little to improve the team — their biggest deal was with veteran starter Ivan Nova for three years and $26 million.



Fans are going to vote with their dollars and their eyeballs. If that wasn’t clear to Nutting in 2007, when the Pirates were 15 seasons deep into a string of 20 consecutive losing campaigns, it should be clear now as the numbers crash from their peak.



Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter, @fugimaster24.

In other news, water is wet.



Also should note that the days of those billion dollar local TV deals are through.



But here are the important facts: MLB has fixed both the draft and the international market (finally) to level the playing field. The end of the steroid and uppers era has made it a young man's game, and that framework allows low payroll teams to compete with big budget teams.



The Pirates don't have the resources to chase a pennant every year like the Red Sox and Dodgers. **** happens, and at the same time, ratings and attendance drops when there's no playoff race. That's baked into the cake. This team has plenty of financial flexibility to manage fluctuations in variable revenue without adjusting budget plans.

This is exactly what I've been saying for years. MLB doesn't care one iota whether or not there are butts in seats. They care a great deal about whether or not eyes watch on TV. And, I think you're right...the days of billion dollar TV deals are over. As more and more people cut cable, that's going to have a lasting effect. My suspicion is that gigantic free agent deals are going to become a thing of the past as well for all but the very best of the best.



I think Derek Carr just signed the richest deal in NFL history for something like $125 million over five years. That's pocket change by MLB contract standards. I don't think that's sustainable long-term, certainly it isn't if RSNs aren't willing to fork over billions anymore.