Word is they’re just looking at the gambling/sports book benefit of it. Seems short-sighted. Like the majority of Manfred’s decisions up to and including the way they scapegoated the Astros.
The gambling stuff is inevitable, but partnering with Barstool is just ridiculous. Once a deal is announced or reported widely it'll take about 2 hours for the internet to dig up 382 insulting and offensive things they've said about just about every group imaginable. They're masshole scum. Great PR move, Manfred.
They built that field for one game? Seems like every team should play a game there. Glad the Yankees lost in dramatic fashion! It would have been funny if the fireworks ignited the corn field and everything burned down. If they were going to have Kevin Costner walk out of the corn field, then maybe they should have just taken it one step farther and had him play catch like in the film instead of walking awkwardly slowly holding a baseball. It was hokey.
It's for sure being used next year and then a decision will be made on it's use going forward. It probably will be an annual event for awhile.
Baseball needs to decide are they going with full nostalgia or are they trying to endear themselves to new viewers/new generations? Because making a 1989 movie the showcase theme of a game speaks volumes as to where MLB knows their bread is buttered… yet they’re continuing to try and find ways to “change” the game that merely anger this portion of the fan base.
The idea could be pretty versatile. Big leaguers playing a game at a sandlot in a poor urban area would be huge. Each team playing 1 home game a year at a local city/HS stadium. Stuff like that would probably be a pretty effective way of broadening the appeal to younger people.
My 11 year old, who has never seen the movie (and I need to fix that, ASAP) has been anxiously waiting WEEKS for this game. They managed to successfully market it to his demographic somehow...probably via YouTube or TikTok.
On the 1989 movie, there really hasn't been a great baseball movie recently that would appeal to younger fans. With the film industry trying to make films appeal to global audiences, baseball's lack of popularity in several areas (e.g., China) has likely made it a topic avoided for new films. MLB may need to bankroll a movie if they want a new classic baseball movie.
Yeah… a rare case of a unique game drawing appeal and leading to renewed interest of a movie that is 32 years old. The only question is baseball benefitting from FOD or is FOD benefiting from baseball??
I keep seeing NFL draft day as the movie when the league decides to bankroll one. Ironically, more of the current young persons associates Kevin Costner with draft day vs FOD.
