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  • Hot Pepsi
    replied
    It appears that most of those seats are empty. Why is that?

    I suspect that they won't be able to get the Yankees and Red Sox every year, if they want to keep doing this. They'll probably try the Dodgers - Cubs. Perhaps the Angels and Phillies at some point, given that they have big home run-hitting stars. You're not likely to see the Pirates, Reds, Rays, Marlins, etc. That is unless one of those teams ends up moving to London full-time, but that's at least a generation away, at the earliest.



    For MLB tickets, I find the best option is to be high up but behind home plate. That's the most cost effective, usually. Bleachers beyond the outfield are cheaper, but it can be really hard to follow the action out there. (Though I once sat about 15 row behind home plate in San Diego for about $40. I had gone in thinking it would be very expensive and so I prepared to spend that much just to get any kind of decent seat at all. If I did that again, I'd spend less to get a somewhat less perfect seat. I was just a few rows behind players' wives).

    For minor league baseball or college, I sit either near the dugout or, sometimes, about 10 rows behind home plate. Or move around, as UA suggests. The seats close to the end of the dugout are a good idea if you can get them because then you hear a lot of the dugout conversation and if there's an argument between the manager and the umpire. If you really want to know what they're saying, you'll have to understand Spanish, which I generally don't. (This year's State College Spikes team has fewer American players than any I can recall).

    Lately I haven't been going to any games unless my friend whose company has a box - I wouldn't call it "luxury" - takes me. Then I get to go for free and the seats are about 30 ft higher than the field level, about 100 feet away from the field, and about halfway down first base. I could also get free Bud Light if I wanted to drink that, but I do not.

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    I normally like to be near the dugouts, but because of the shape of the field they're a lot further from the action than normal. Conversely because the fences are so much closer than usual, it looks like a high outfield seat could be much better than I'm used to. Certainly your pic seems to back that up.

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  • Capybara
    replied
    Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
    I thought you were talking about overall view not value, sorry!

    Capybra is probably the best person to comment on those as I think he was in that area and broadly pleased.

    I presume you're considering next year's games then?
    As Ursus says, where you prefer watch from is a matter of personal taste and I prefer to be high up for most sports. Of those I was with, I was the only one who had attended a baseball game before, but the others seemed happy enough with the view. We were in Cat 8 seats. This is my view on Saturday. It looks worse than it was.





    Given that they only just about sold out for the most popular teams in baseball, perhaps they might have further thoughts on the pricing for next year.
    Last edited by Capybara; 01-07-2019, 17:33.

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  • Hot Pepsi
    replied
    That's true within the US too.

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    I am disturbed to realize that the Yankees are not just the beneficiaries of a closed system where they exclusive rights to over half of the largest market, but are also a Real Madrid-style international "brand" and there doesn't seem to be anything to stop them.
    Other than baseball's limited appeal outside a handful of countries. I mean, even in my office which has more than a few Americans, I don't know any other fans. Basketball is way more popular.

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  • Hot Pepsi
    replied
    I am disturbed to realize that the Yankees are not just the beneficiaries of a closed system where they exclusive rights to over half of the largest market, but are also a Real Madrid-style international "brand" and there doesn't seem to be anything to stop them.

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    More than considering. Won't miss it unless it's totally unavoidable. I don't get to see the Cubs in person very often, let alone in London.Twice in my lifetime so far, so this would double that. I've also never seen a game against the Cardinals, so it will be extra special, even when we inevitably lose.

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  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    I thought you were talking about overall view not value, sorry!

    Capybra is probably the best person to comment on those as I think he was in that area and broadly pleased.

    I presume you're considering next year's games then?

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    The Cat 2 & 3 tickets here? ;
    No, I meant 8 or 9. No way I'm paying over £200 for tickets. Though maybe I'll have to if everything else sells out.

    Incidentally, this thread is now hidden for me too.

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  • ursus arctos
    replied
    Personal taste is very important when it comes to baseball seating, much like cricket (though baseball tends not to have the complications of members' pavilions and the like).

    I have always preferred to seats along the foul lines, perhaps because that is what I grew up with, but have many friends who much prefer the view from behind home plate or beyond the outfield fence. If one has the chance to go to a sparsely attended minor league or college game, one is often able to wander around, taking in the game from different vantage points, which is more efficient in deciding what works best for you than going to a couple of dozen matches.

    The recent explosion in the use of defensive "shifts" (essentially setting the field to counter the tendencies of individual batters) has made somewhat elevated positions more appealing, as it can be difficult to fully understand them from field level.

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  • Capybara
    replied
    You are right (PT) about the tickets. A friend of mine failed to get anything in the first two releases before she was successful on the third a couple of weeks ago. I looked last week and there still a few available through the official source. I saw one tout who seemed to be doing no business at all.

    Our seats were a long way back, right behind the pitcher, but the view was really good, the only problem being that we couldn't see very deep centre field. And we were also in shade for all but about 20 minutes in the evening, which was a real bonus given the weather.
    Last edited by Capybara; 01-07-2019, 12:57.

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  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
    Also, attendees, any thoughts on the seating? Looking at the photos it seems like unless you're right behind the batter the best price/view is actually in the outfield bleachers (maybe along one of the foul lines?).
    The Cat 2 & 3 tickets here? ;




    They looked a pretty good view. I was in row 2 of block 139 and this was my view (the photo doesn't do it justice really) and it felt like we were well-placed. We had some friends join us late on when the crowd was thinning out a little and they said the upper tiers at either end felt very remote.


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  • Patrick Thistle
    replied
    I joined the MLB London Facebook group last year when the games were announced. Everyone said the tickets went really quickly and then in the past few weeks have been laughing at how many tickets have been put up for sale by people who could suddenly no longer go. There was definitely some kind of price speculation going on from multiple-ticket purchasers who thought there would be huge demand.

    People in the group who went have generally said it was either really good, or have been complaining about everything including having to queue for food and stuff or the trains back afterwards. It's a bit like TripAdvisor where there will always be some numpties who slag a place off over trivial things. I mean, show me a major sporting venue where you don't have to queue for food.

    Initially I was going to try and go to the game, but the rapid sell out of tickets meant I didn't buy any when I was most enthusiastic about it, plus it's in London and that's just a huge hassle to get to, plus I've seen the Red Sox at Fenway Park, plus it was the Yankees and I can't stand them or their plastic UK fans. (Although tbf there is one girl in one of the UK fan groups who seems like a baseball fan who likes the Yankees and knows her stuff, as opposed to most Yankees fans who don't know which end of a baseball bat is the end you hold.)

    Another friend who watches a lot of baseball on ESPN said he didn't bother going because, like me, he's seen baseball in the States, and he thought it would turn into a fakey Americana festival trying to be something it's not. I'd like to know if it was like that. The vibe I'm getting is that it didn't try to be an American experience in London, it was trying to be a London experience of an American thing.

    Back on the question of stadium food hawking from a couple of pages back. Mrs Thistle still regrets not buying a 'Yard of Squishee' from a vendor in Petco Park. (This is one of our 'If we had a chance to do things again what would we do differently?' moments) At Fenway we had vendors selling cups of clam chowder to punters, which I just thought was gross.

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    Also, attendees, any thoughts on the seating? Looking at the photos it seems like unless you're right behind the batter the best price/view is actually in the outfield bleachers (maybe along one of the foul lines?).

    Leave a comment:


  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
    No, we've never had those and I found them novel in the UK

    What we have had for a long time are transistor radios and, now, smartphone apps that allow one to listen to a broadcast. But nowhere near as many people do that for a MLB game as I have seen use those gadgets at an England cricket match.
    I've just spoken to a colleague who blagged hospitality for yesterday's match and he said the earpiece radios were provided there so they obviously sensed the need for them.


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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    Normally, the "blackout" rules don't apply outside the US, because the broadcasters in question don't operate there. I read GY as saying that he couldn't watch on MLB.TV because he is in the UK, notwithstanding the fact that Fox (Saturday) and ESPN (Sunday) weren't showing the games there (was anyone?).
    I should have realised, as the same thing happens with NFL Gamepass for the London games, which are shown on Sky (and other games shown on Sky for that matter). It's just such a novelty for baseball so it didn't even occur to me.

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  • Levin
    replied
    Ah ha. It's Sunset+Vine producing for ICC TV.

    Commentators list

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  • Levin
    replied
    Aggers mentioned yesterday on TMS that they were alos broadcasting on ICC radio as well as ABC Grandstand and Radio Sport New Zealand.

    Channel 2 Group of Dubai have audio rights to the World Cup but they seem very light on mentioning what their Cricket Radio actually produces. However, the ICC Other Rights page says "The Dubai based organisation also produce an English language world feed which they distribute to partners who do not do their own commentary. Radio rights licensees for the ICC World Twenty20 2016 included BBC and Talksport (United Kingdom), All India Radio (India), Radio 4 (UAE), SABC (South Africa), APNA 107FM (Pakistan), Bangladesh Betar (Bangladesh), SLBC (Sri Lanka) and TBS Radio Network (West Indies). "

    It's all very confusing, unless Channel 2 Group sub licence the actual commentary to another station?

    Edit: And that's just radio, ignoring the commentary with pictures.

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  • longeared
    replied
    ICC events have a global English language TV commentary - so there's the same commentators everywhere. Which is why there's no Bumble but instead includes Mark Nicholas, who left Sky some twenty years ago, and Alison Mitchell, who I don't think has ever done men's cricket on Sky.

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  • ursus arctos
    replied
    I find the commentary arrangements for the CWC baffling.

    The streams that I've been able to get have an international cast of dozens including Atherton, Allison Mitchell, Hasha Bogle, Ian Bishop and others, who also voice the official highlights posted on YouTube. The streams are from Oz, but I assumed that that was also the Sky team, given the involvement of Sky commentators. Is it not?

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  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
    No, we've never had those and I found them novel in the UK

    What we have had for a long time are transistor radios and, now, smartphone apps that allow one to listen to a broadcast. But nowhere near as many people do that for a MLB game as I have seen use those gadgets at an England cricket match.
    I don't know if I mentioned it on the CWC thread but I and thousands of others turned up for my first game of the tournament with my regular earpiece radio to find out that the ICC were not broadcasting on their frequency so you had to pay £10 for one of their radios to hear TMS (and only TMS not Sky's commentary, if you're peculiar enough to prefer that, because Star Sports are an official partner of the event).
    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 01-07-2019, 12:29.

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  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    I think this article sums up the experience pretty well (though I had the total opposite experience with regard to the ratio of Brits to Americans) :

    London’s MLB crowd offers baseball a new land of opportunity

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  • ursus arctos
    replied
    Not that it is going to help now, but I expect that one could have accessed the Boston or New York local radio commentary with either the MLB At Bat app or a service like Tune In or Pandora.

    Though I think most neutrals would say that both of those broadcast teams are a bit of an acquired taste, particularly the Yankees' combo of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Though if you did listen to them, you could tell your mates that you have heard baseball commentary from someone who played Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha on Broadway.

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  • Greenlander
    replied
    Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
    I read GY as saying that he couldn't watch on MLB.TV because he is in the UK, notwithstanding the fact that Fox (Saturday) and ESPN (Sunday) weren't showing the games there (was anyone?
    It appeared to be on BBC Sport, but when I tried to log on around the seventh inning it just buffered away so no idea how reliable that stream was.

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  • ursus arctos
    replied
    No, we've never had those and I found them novel in the UK

    What we have had for a long time are transistor radios and, now, smartphone apps that allow one to listen to a broadcast. But nowhere near as many people do that for a MLB game as I have seen use those gadgets at an England cricket match.

    Leave a comment:

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