It's one of those "they need to find a reason to belong" type deals. Hell tiga still thinks loading the bases and having the pitcher run the ball to home plate is a good play
I've posted links before. When comparing playoffs to playoffs, the women get far bigger ratings. Unless you are a diehard college baseball fan, most sports fans are not watching. It can be boring. Softball offers a different, closer, more involved and dynamic aspect that appeals to fans who don't typically watch the sport. Plus, let's face it....plenty of y'all like to look at the ladies in their uniforms. Not Hooch Hemphill of course, but there are others.
Butthurt is strong here. Ratings are what they are. If it wasn't a smart business decision, ESPiN wouldn't continue to increase the number of games they air.
Not at all. What I'm saying is that outside of it's immediate base, it attracts more overall sports fans (ESPN watchers), than college baseball does.
I just wanted to hear you say it. Thanks for clarifying the only option I could muster for the cause. I do like the yellow ball tho.
I pandered of course because of the audience here. But make no mistake, the sport's popularity goes well beyond the unis. College baseball and softball are both great sports. At some level, softball offers a better game to watch on TV. Fans are closer to the field, leads change often, there's small ball and long ball. Rarely a snoozer at this point in the season.
You should do your homework. From 2017.... "Last month’s College World Series recorded one of its best TV ratings in recent years, drawing a larger audience than its softball sister event for the first time since 2014. For the last two years, the growing viewership of the Women’s College World Series has made national headlines. The women’s finals outperformed the men’s in 2015 and 2016. The softball championship had a record-setting 2017 but fell short of the men’s CWS figures. The Florida-LSU championship series averaged a total of 1,945,000 viewers — the second-most watched sweep in CWS history and the best of any finals since 2014. The WCWS softball title series, between Oklahoma and Florida, was the most-watched sweep in that event’s history, averaging 1,720,000 viewers. Both events were streamed online more than any other before and saw gains from their 2016 viewership numbers." It's impressive when you acknowledge that the men get far more regular-season coverage. If you don't show the games, people don't get interested. Further, "In 2017, it was reported that Oklahoma's two-game sweep of Florida averaged 1.72 million viewers, the most watched sweep in WCWS history. The opening game of this series -- a game that lasted 17 innings -- had 1.583 viewers. This was the most viewers for an opening game in WCWS history. Those numbers were significantly larger than what ESPN was attracting for Monday Night Baseball that same year. According to Marketwatch, ESPN was only seeing 1.1 million viewers on average for Major League Baseball on Monday night in April that season..... In 2018, the 2nd game of the series between FSU and Washington, "FSU’s win was the most-watched weeknight baseball or softball game since MLB Opening Day (Giants-Dodgers: 2.0M). It topped the competing Marlins-Cardinals MLB game on FS1 by nearly 300% (383K)." "According to the Department of Education, college softball teams reported $450 million in revenue in 2016-17 (the last year data has been reported). The top school listed -- Florida State (the 2018 NCAA champions) -- reported $2.2 million in softball revenues. Baylor University also reported $2.2 million in revenue and 42 additional programs reported more than $1 million in revenues. When we look at all college sports, we see that only three men's sports -- football, men's basketball, and baseball -- report larger revenues than women's softball. The Department of Education reports revenue on at least 30 men's college sports, so at least 27 men's college sports are not doing as well today at women's softball." So hate on. The facts don't support your personal butthurt.
That's not a lot different than a few here claiming how easily it would be for them to bat against one of these pitchers. One of the top five, but certainly not this seasons best HR hitter. Mia Davidson out of Starkville holds that honor and likely will next season and the one after. Hell of a season for that young lady as a sophomore. Arizona's Harper is right alongside Davidson. In fact, between Mississippi State and Arizona you'll find the best home run hitting duo's in the country this year.
