South Side Hit Men Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 https://theathletic.com/2634765/2021/06/07/mlb-broadcasters-are-looking-for-answers-and-a-return-to-the-road-were-balancing-on-a-razor-wire/ Quote “Fans want to be at games, they want the feel of people at games, and I think Major League Baseball wants fans to come back to games,” White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti said. “So what better way than to have us show people, ‘Hey, it’s safe for us to go now.'” Quote Len Kasper, the man whom Sciambi replaced, is already back on the road with his White Sox radio partner Darrin Jackson. But the Sox TV duo of Jason Benetti and Steve Stone are still calling road games from a studio inside the NBC Tower in downtown Chicago. The radio and TV broadcasters are all Sox employees, but NBC Sports Chicago (partially owned by Jerry Reinsdorf) controls the TV team’s budget and schedule. Glad Len and DJ are calling games in person. Hope television viewers get the same treatment sometime this season. No answers in the article on when that may occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Side Hit Men Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 Nice segment with Jason Benetti on the Lawrence Holmes show, They talk about: The fear this becomes commonplace throughout baseball/sports as a cost cutting measure (perhaps a few hotel rooms and out of town meals is the difference between a homeless Jerry Reinsdorf and one livin' just enough for the city). The importance to the broadcast of being at the game, anticipating plays, feeling the atmosphere, bringing this experience to fans. Post game whiskey for Jason to deal with post game worries. The upcoming podcast titled "Sox Degrees" with Len Kasper, and insight regarding the first one taped with Rick "Teflon" Hahn. https://www.audacy.com/670thescore/podcasts/laurence-holmes-on-670-the-score-61/holmes-jason-benetti-interview-hour-2-436252794 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 4 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said: Nice segment with Jason Benetti on the Lawrence Holmes show, They talk about: The fear this becomes commonplace throughout baseball/sports as a cost cutting measure (perhaps a few hotel rooms and out of town meals is the difference between a homeless Jerry Reinsdorf and one livin' just enough for the city). The importance to the broadcast of being at the game, anticipating plays, feeling the atmosphere, bringing this experience to fans. Post game whiskey for Jason to deal with post game worries. The upcoming podcast titled "Sox Degrees" with Len Kasper, and insight regarding the first one taped with Rick "Teflon" Hahn. https://www.audacy.com/670thescore/podcasts/laurence-holmes-on-670-the-score-61/holmes-jason-benetti-interview-hour-2-436252794 If it is a cost cutting move by JR, why are the radio guys traveling. They are Sox employees too. If this is the reason then they would all be broadcasting from the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Side Hit Men Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, ptatc said: If it is a cost cutting move by JR, why are the radio guys traveling. They are Sox employees too. If this is the reason then they would all be broadcasting from the park. The local ESPN radio station picks up the tab for travel. They own the broadcast rights, but Sox have right of refusal for broadcast team hires. ESPN pays the White Sox for broadcast rights, but does not submit travel expenses or payroll expenses to the Chicago White Sox - these costs are incurred and expensed by the radio station, which earns profit based on promotions and ads sold associated with their broadcasts, net their expense. Jerry personally owns 25% of the RSN carrying the television rights. Jerry Reinsdorf's RSN picks up any associated broadcasting costs, including travel expenses. Jerry is the norm across MLB owners in this instance. Most teams are not sending their television broadcasters on road games. Most, like Jerry, also own their RSNs. The industrywide concern is that "these telecasts worked fine without travel, so were not going to do this in the future" being the norm, or being the norm if the broadcasters and others don't fight this. It's been discussed over the past year now. With fans attending at 100% capacity, and the White Sox passing the 85% threshold regarding less COVID restrictions, including travel restrictions, there is no legitimate "health or science" excuse to exclude broadcasters from traveling to cover the White Sox. For Cubs and other teams with restrictions, I could see waiting for now. Edited June 9, 2021 by South Side Hit Men Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentralChamps21 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 They don't work fine without travel. The camera often misses check swing appeals and fair/foul calls that the announcers would be able to see if they were in the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Side Hit Men Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 Steve Stone weighs in, replying to The Athletic piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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