March 18, 2020

From The Dept. Of Not-A-Surprise: Fans Didn't Like Facebook-Only Broadcast

[Draft Post: April 4, 2018]

Jimmy Traina, Sports Illustrated/Extra Mustard:
Mets, Phillies Fans Unleash Fury After Discovering Game Only Airing On Facebook

Major League Baseball needed $35 million so they made a deal with Facebook in which the social media site would air 25 weekday afternoon games during the 2018 season. Exclusively.

That means no TV, not even in local markets. That means the only way anyone could watch the games is on Facebook. The first game of this deal was to take place Wednesday between the Phillies and Mets. This is when most people found out the details of the Facebook deal. Naturally, people took to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
James Wagner, New York Times:
The Mets-Phillies game was the first of the 25 games set to be aired on Facebook — one per week — and the early feedback was largely negative. Fans quickly voiced their displeasure with the newfangled broadcast and its glitches ...

Several viewers complained that the onscreen scoreboard and statistics banner blocked too much of the screen, as did the comments bar on the side. And in the fifth inning, as the broadcast showed a montage of the Mets' oft-injured captain David Wright, the feed froze. ...

After receiving many complaints, producers of the stream told viewers how to hide the comments bar via the comment section, as well as on the broadcast itself. They also reduced the size of the onscreen graphics, which were originally designed for cellphone screens. ...













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