MLBI VP Jim Small defended the league's decision to
play today's Cubs-Mets season opener in Tokyo during
primetime in Japan, resulting in a 5:00am ET start in the
U.S. Small: "With all due respect to fans in New York and
Chicago, we thought it would be disrespectful to not play at
a time when [Japanese fans] could come and see it. In that
case, why not stay and play the games in the States?" In
N.Y., Rafael Hermoso notes that in '96, the Nets and Magic
played in Japan during the "wee hours to draw a prime U.S.
audience." Small: "People are going to complain and
literally it's something we did consider. We're not trying
to alienate the fans" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/29). The MLB
Authentic Collection sponsored a remote broadcast of this
morning's Cubs-Mets game at N.Y.'s ESPNZone. Fans who
attended WFAN's "Bagel and Breakfast" event were offered
breakfast along with a chance to win prize packs. In
return, the MLB Authentic Collection was given opening
billboards at the top of each hour during WFAN's post-game
show, and three recorded commercials throughout the program
(MLB Authentic Collection). "GMA's" Tony Perkins reported
live from N.Y.'s ESPNZone and noted that "about 125" people
watched today's game (ABC, 3/29). See (#11) for more.
MLB NOTES: MLB Int'l has picked up its one-year option
with Inchon TV Limited (iTV) to continue televising MLB
games in Korea. iTV has carried games since '98 (MLBI).
....BARRON'S examines the efforts of Cyber-Pitch.com, a
joint-venture with Houston-based InterWeb Design, which
plans to help MLB teams be more "fan-friendly" through
"interactive marketing of tickets, products and
extracurricular activities" (BARRON'S, 3/27 issue).
