why does mlb play 162 games

[thetrinity]

serious question?

i cant come up with a good answer, granted it doesnt as much energy to play baseball as basketball/hockey but the meaning of each individual game is so small. would it be more interesting to play less games and have an extended playoffs?

[face]

baseball not as much of a tv business as a live game business

[stevex]

One reason and one reason only...

Money.

[pavyracer]

90% of the people who go to the ballpark don't necessarily go there to watch the game. Game is played laid back and people go to enjoy the nice day outdoors.

[lakerboy]

Baseball should play 162 games in 81 days. All doubleheaders. Start when nba finals end and finish when nfl starts roughly. That way when the nfl and nba/nhl/ ncaaf come back baseball is just finishing up playoffs.

[k13]

baseball not as much of a tv business as a live game business

MLB already has a huge TV contract and getting bigger.

Bigger than the NBA....

[Vegas39]

90% of the people who go to the ballpark don't necessarily go there to watch the game. Game is played laid back and people go to enjoy the nice day outdoors.

This

[BiffTFinancial]

A better question is why the NBA plays 81 games.

[Chi_archie]

Seems like a perfect amount!

[zandyman]

[bubblebuttluv]

They have that many games so bettors have more of a chance to either make a lot of money or get their ass handed to them.

[thetrinity]

i do think when you go to watch mlb live, most people dont even care about the game from my experience. in fact a few years back in my old one store i was watching over it and a pirates salesman tried to give away a nice package at the tail end of an awful season. i basically laughed and said i had enough of them for this year and hes like you dont go to the games for them you go to pick up girls and for the weather etc, so even the salesmen admit it.

[El Sol]

i do think when you go to watch mlb live, most people dont even care about the game from my experience. in fact a few years back in my old one store i was watching over it and a pirates salesman tried to give away a nice package at the tail end of an awful season. i basically laughed and said i had enough of them for this year and hes like you dont go to the games for them you go to pick up girls and for the weather etc, so even the salesmen admit it.

I wouldn't call Pittsburgh much of A baseball town, this could be the reason your perception is skewed about the popularity of baseball elsewhere.

[daneblazer]

the real question is why do they have a 1 game playoff after those 162 games

[LowRollin]

they want to give us gamblers something to do . the 1 game playoff is indeed ridiculous though.

[dice]

serious question?

i cant come up with a good answer, granted it doesnt as much energy to play baseball as basketball/hockey but the meaning of each individual game is so small. would it be more interesting to play less games and have an extended playoffs?

Money$$$ This is how long players can play competitively and still make the club money.

[iifold]

gotta even out the ground balls and bloopers...

Agree with the longer playoffs, 5 game series' are a joke!!

[Prof Bungletree]

Because 154 games wasn't enough!!

[Deuce]

No salary cap clubs need to be able to recoup the money spent on out of shape "athletes".

[horja1]

the real question is why do they have a 1 game playoff after those 162 games

this

[InTheDrink]

i do think when you go to watch mlb live, most people dont even care about the game from my experience. in fact a few years back in my old one store i was watching over it and a pirates salesman tried to give away a nice package at the tail end of an awful season. i basically laughed and said i had enough of them for this year and hes like you dont go to the games for them you go to pick up girls and for the weather etc, so even the salesmen admit it.

pirates at the tail end of any season

[jayc88]

Playoffs make mlb look absolutely ridicolous
You play more than 100 games in the regular season and then there are 10 games which could make you win the ws??

[thetrinity]

I wouldn't call Pittsburgh much of A baseball town, this could be the reason your perception is skewed about the popularity of baseball elsewhere.

id say its a huge baseball town being that theyve sucked for over 20 years and some people still do care