Commercialism Engulfing Baseball Broadcasts

I don’t know about you, but a baseball broadcast is so much better on the radio than on TV. It is easy for me to say that since I work in radio, but the broadcast is so much more descriptive on radio and it needs to be.  In listening recently to several different broadcasts of different games, it has become very obvious that commercialism is beginning to overwhelm the game broadcast.  If you listen, everything is sponsored and the announcer not only describes the game, but also is responsible to read the commercial as well. Here’s an example.

“Here’s the first pitch of the game….brought to you by 1^st Bank of Manhattan.

There’s a lined drive caught by the shortstop… brought to you by Fred’s Convenience Store. Make your short stop Fred’s.  

On the play, the pitcher hurt his arm. This injury report brought to you by Joe’s Chiropractic Clinic

It looks like they are going to the bullpen for a new pitcher. Speaking of pitchers, Mike’s Bar has pitchers of beer every Wednesday night for half-price.

Oh, by the way, we are now all the way into the bottom of the first with no score. If you want to score…” well you get the idea.

Can we just go back to broadcasting the game and leave the commercials between innings? “This message brought to you by the unemployed Broadcasters of America”.