Fox Leaves End Of Yankees-Red Sox Game For Start Of NASCAR Race
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Fox Leaves End Of Yankees-Red Sox Game
For Start Of NASCAR Sprint Cup Race |
Fox on Saturday switched off its coverage of Yankees-Red Sox with two outs in the ninth inning in order to get to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 500 because Fox Sports VP/Communications Dan Bell said that the net “had to show the entire NASCAR race,” according to Price & Raissman of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Bell said that Fox “apologized for the switch, but added it had warned viewers … several times of the upcoming move.” Bell: “We had two great events we thought we would be able to air in their entirety. It’s not the way we planned this out.” Yankees-Red Sox was delayed more than two hours due to rain, and when the game resumed at 8:30pm ET, Fox’ Joe Buck “told viewers the game was also being simulcast on FX, giving them plenty of time to switch over before the plug was pulled.” Bell said that Fox "did all it could, even asking NASCAR to push the start of the race back from 8:45pm to 8:53pm -- which it agreed to -- thinking the game would be over by then. " Bell added that the net’s contract with MLB “only calls for a required 4-7pm Eastern time slot” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/13). In Boston, Amalie Benjamin reported the Red Sox “received assurances from Fox, through MLB, they would stay with the game until 9pm before switching to FX.” Red Sox COO Mike Dee: “To pull the plug was a big surprise, needless to say, for all of us. We made it clear that we were upset for our fans. … It was unfortunate it happened” (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/14). Bell said that Fox “could have run graphics on the screen in order to alert people watching the game without sound or at a bar” (N.Y. POST, 4/13).
MLB MORE IMPORTANT THAN NASCAR? THATSRACIN.com’s Keith Ott wrote Fox “displayed its true colors and has shown NASCAR fans exactly how important they consider racing,” as the NASCAR race “took a backseat to a rain-delayed baseball game because of market size.” Ott: “It was the wrong decision. If you’re going to show an event, you owe it to the fans to show it from the beginning. ... We deserved the full event and not cars coming around turn 4 to take the green” (THATSRACIN.com, 4/13). In Charlotte, Jim Utter wrote Fox “could have done itself a lot of favors by making the move well before the start of the race” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/13). However, also in Charlotte, David Poole writes, "To the network’s credit, the effort that was made was one of trying to serve viewers. It didn’t work out like Fox or the viewers would have wanted it to, but shouldn’t there be some credit for even trying?" (CHARLOTTE.com, 4/14).
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