MLB’s most popular and expensive teams didn’t meet expectations during the 2023 season — and the biggest brands that made the postseason faltered, too.

That leaves baseball with a World Series matchup featuring the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks. 

In the American League, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, and New York all missed the postseason — removing the possibility of at least one participant with a national following or well-known rabid local fan base. In the National League, the Phillies saw their raucous playoff run come to an end after a seven-game thriller with Arizona.

“There’s no question the league would rather have had Philly in there rather than Phoenix,” sports media consultant Jim Williams told Front Office Sports. “At least it would have given them two major markets.” Philadelphia also would have given the World Series a major star in Bryce Harper.

Last year’s Philadelphia-Houston six-game series was the second-least-watched World Series on record, averaging just under 12 million viewers on Fox.

Now, the league looks to cap off what has been an up-and-down playoffs ratings-wise. After being down in the early rounds, viewership rebounded in the league championship series, helping MLB to a 7% increase, compared to 2022, heading into the World Series.

On The Clock

One regular-season trend that has persisted in the playoffs is the decrease in the average length of an MLB game. 

So far this postseason, the average game time has been 3:02, a 20-minute decrease from last year’s games through the first three rounds. That stacks up nicely against the regular-season average, a drop of 24 minutes to 2:40.

The upstart Arizona Diamondbacks will hit the local airwaves in 2024 as a National League pennant winner, at the very least, and perhaps a World Series champion. 

But precisely where those games will be shown and how much money the club will reap for those broadcasts remain mysteries.

In July, the Diamondbacks were the second major pro team to have their local rights dropped by Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt parent of Bally Sports, a situation that has since greatly complicated local media planning across MLB and other leagues and has ushered in a new era in Phoenix sports media.

MLB quickly moved to broadcast and distribute Diamondbacks games, showing them on a broad mix of local broadcast, cable, and streaming outlets. The club also was guaranteed at least 80% of its contracted rights fees — pegged at $61.2 million for 2023.

How that will carry over into 2024 is still a massive question mark for the Diamondbacks, who are also facing pressing facility concerns.

MLB said it remains prepared to take on as many of its teams’ local broadcasting as necessary, at comparable financial terms to recent years.

“We are confident that we can produce revenue streams in those local markets that are not drastically different from what teams have been used to enjoying,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on the “Marchand and Ourand” podcast. “There may be a little downtick, and then a build back up. We do really believe in the fundamental value of the content.”

While the Texas-Arizona World Series matchup might not be what MLB and Fox Sports executives would have chosen, Rangers and Diamondbacks fans are showing out for the occasion, creating high demand for tickets on the secondary market.

The average resale price for a sold-out Game 1 at Globe Life Field in Dallas one day out was $1,273, according to data SeatGeek provided to Front Office Sports. That’s a 9% increase from the eve of the Houston Astros hosting the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the 2022 World Series.

“There is no postseason fatigue here,” said Oliver Marvin, director of business operations at SeatGeek, MLB’s official ticket marketplace.

The Rangers are seeking their first-ever World Series title, while the Diamondbacks are looking for their second in their first trip back to the playoffs since 2017.

Monday’s Game 3 will also be a hot ticket as the series shifts to Arizona’s Chase Field. The average resale price for that game is currently $1,080, and the get-in price is $735. “We’re seeing a lot of ticket demand from both markets,” Marvin added.

A competitive first two games in Dallas could make ticket prices soar even higher throughout the series. 

The Rangers are slight — but not overwhelming — favorites to win the World Series. Both teams went to seven games in the ALCS and NLCS before punching their ticket to baseball’s championship round.

The 2023 World Series offers a study of contrasts, whether it’s roster development strategies, team payrolls, or franchise histories. 

But the biggest difference is perhaps in the teams’ facilities.

The Texas Rangers are playing in three-year-old Globe Life Field, a $1.2 billion ballpark opened in the difficult circumstances of the pandemic but since chosen as the host of next year’s MLB All-Star Game. Forming a key part of the expansive sports and entertainment complex in Arlington, Globe Life Field is also a factor in the ongoing race to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.

“This is a building designed specifically for baseball, and we are looking forward to another opportunity to show this off to the world,” Rob Matwick, Rangers executive vice president of business operations, told Front Office Sports. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ 25-year-old Chase Field, conversely, is the fulcrum of an increasingly urgent facility search for the club. The club would like to stay at the downtown Phoenix ballpark but haven’t found the public-private agreement necessary to fund $400 million to $500 million in needed upgrades — including replacing outdated air conditioning, scoreboard, and lighting systems. 

That lack of a deal also contrasts with the growing number of MLB clubs that have completed pacts this year for new or upgraded facilities, and it’s unclear what the team will do if a renovation deal does not materialize.

“We don’t have our hand out, but if you look at some of the other situations very similar to ours — like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore — in each case, they are getting strong investments from the public, from a mixture of city/county/state, and we just aren’t,” Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said last month.

Big Aspirations

Like the Rangers and a fast-growing number of other teams, the Diamondbacks would like a renovated Chase Field to be the center of a downtown mixed-use development. The club’s current lease expires in 2027.

“I’m starting to get concerned with the timing,” Hall said. “I don’t think the city officials in particular understand the urgency.”