Five ways to make the MLB All-Star Game more interesting

Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game has long been an annual rite of summer. That reality is reflected in its oft-used nickname, the Midsummer Classic. Television ratings suggest that the game is losing steam and is in need of a jolt of excitement, freshness or both. Last year’s game averaged a mere 8.69 million viewers and a 5.2 household rating, which was down from 2017’s 9.28 million and 5.5.

Nielsen has been keeping track of the game’s ratings and viewership for 52 years, and 2018’s contest was the all-time lowest in both categories. Even more alarming was the fact that fans were either tuning out of, or never tuning in at all, to a game that had plenty of excitement, home runs and spectacular performances from young stars.

This is no doubt due in part to cord-cutting, which continues to hurt traditional television ratings numbers, but it also speaks to baseball’s relative inability to capture the attention of younger fans. The median age of viewers last year was 56.4, nearly two years older than 2016’s audience.

In case Rob Manfred happens to be reading, I’ve got a few suggestions as to how MLB can tweak its showcase midseason event to be more enticing to prospective viewers.

Start the game earlier 

If you’ve followed baseball for any length of time, you know that one of the most common complaints is that playoff games, particularly World Series games, start too late. The same goes for the All-Star Game. This year, the MLB.com start time says 7:30 p.m. ET, but when you factor in the player introductions, the national anthem, a jet flyover and whatever else might happen before the first pitch, you’ve got a game that likely won’t start until around 8 p.m. — or later. If the goal is to attract viewers, specifically younger ones, make sure the game is actually being played by 7:15 p.m. Plenty of kids like baseball, but plenty of them also have a hard time staying up to watch the whole game. An earlier start would make it more likely that they’d stick around for the later innings. Anyone in the Pacific or Mountain time zones who really wants to watch the game from start to finish will find a way to play hooky at work.

Make the game shorter 

This one should be easy, because MLB has already gotten it right with the Futures Game, which was played last night. The contest was shortened to seven innings, and it started it at 7 p.m. ET. So there are two fewer innings than a “real” baseball game. So what? The Futures Game, like the All-Star Game itself, is an exhibition. Now that MLB has done away with the preposterous stipulation that home-field advantage in the World Series goes to the team from the winning league, it should lean into the whole idea of making the game feel different. Shortening the game would likely make the players happier, lead to a greater sense of urgency from managers and keep it from being an ordeal that takes four-plus hours to complete.

End the “every team gets an All-Star” rule

Either your team has an All-Star, or All-Stars, or it doesn't. The idea that every team, and by extension every fan base, has to be represented is silly. A perusal of this year’s teams suggests that most every player has a good enough resume to be there, but that’s far from the case every year — and I should know. I watched the Pirates, in depths of their 20 straight losing seasons, send players like Mike Williams (2003 – 6.44 ERA at the break) to the All-Star Game. The name of the game is literally the “All-Star Game,” which suggests that all of the participants are, you know, stars. That means the Bryan LaHairs, Kevin Correias (another ignominious Pittsburgh entry to this group) and Shawn Chacons of the world need not apply. I know. It’s a novel concept, but perhaps the game would be more interesting, compelling television if it featured the actual best players in the sport.

Experiment with rules

MLB is already doing this, but again, it is thinking too small. The Atlantic League is independent baseball, and it’s going to be the testing ground for some radical proposed rules changes. Why not use the All-Star Game for this? Lots of fans bellyache about bad strike zones, so why not try to use radar to call them? The home plate ump can still call plays at the plate and do all of his other duties, so what’s the harm? Players won’t care much because the game doesn’t mean anything. Fans would finally get to see a game where they didn’t have to complain about their favorite team getting jobbed by a bad ball or strike call. A meaningless exhibition game that is supposed to be fun for players and fans alike is the perfect place to test out potential changes that would otherwise have traditionalists foaming at the mouth. And who knows — they might actually make the game better!

More money, more motivation 

Yet again, the league gets this right in principle but not in scale. There is a bonus pool for the game, and only members of the winning team are eligible. That incentivizes winning, which in theory incentivizes playing hard. But the money isn’t enough. Only players on their rookie deals will go hard for an extra $20,000. The highest-paid players in the sport make that for an at-bat or two in a regular-season game. The Home Run Derby’s million-dollar prize should make guys like Josh Bell (2019 salary: $587,000) plenty motivated to put on a show and win the whole thing. The sport is flush with cash. The owners are raking in money hand over fist. A proper bonus pool for the winning team would be, say, $2 million or $3 million. If players were getting an extra $100,000 for being on the winning team, it seems pretty safe to say that they would play a little harder and a little better. Certainly, it would cut down on occurrences like this.