The No. 4 hitter became known as the clean-up hitter and is important because he is the one that drives in the first three runners after they, hopefully, got on base. However, today, franchises would rather spend their money on a good tv deal than a good hitter because a good tv deal could help them get a good hitter or hitters.
That is not to say that there are not some debates going on about tv deals impact on the beloved sport. One of the most interesting debates today is the Bubble/No Bubble debate. For those of you who are confused, this means that a network pays huge money for a sports team’s tv rights and has to increase the carriage fee for cable providers. The RSNs cost $3 or more a month for cable and satellite providers to do their thing for each household. The cumulative options of entertainment could become too overwhelming and the consumers could dispose of the single-payment system and choose a la carte what they want.
Until then the “reality tv formula” in which sports resides is going to make a lot of networks a lot of money because all they have to do is show up and film what is going on in front of them. The cost is so much less than a fictitious show, and in many cases more popular.
At the end of 2015, the Phillies deal with Comcast expires and they are about to be in a tug-of-war battle between Comcast and Fox Sports which has eaten up over half of the local franchises Baseball. They want another East Coast team.
