On Saturday, the 2024 Futures Game took place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, the site of this year’s All-Star Game. However, most baseball fans might have missed it, and the blame falls squarely on MLB.
For starters, the game started in the afternoon, 4:00 p.m. on the East Coast, smack dab in the middle of a full slate of MLB action. That’s right, while future major league standouts competed on the same field, nearly all 30 teams from the American and National Leagues were also in action.
Essentially, MLB made most fans choose between the Futures Game or watching their teams play a potentially important mid-July contest.
Even the 2024 All-Star Celebrity Softball Game received better treatment, starting at a much more viewer-friendly time of 7:45 p.m. CT. Meanwhile, the event only had to contend with two West Coast MLB games.
Rather than featuring today’s best prospects in the primetime slot, the powers that be decided that fans would rather watch the guys from “Dude Perfect” try to hit a softball thrown slowly to them underhanded.
Furthermore, a skills competition was held immediately following the Futures Game. But, with no option to watch it live, those interested in seeing what happened will have to wait until Sunday when MLB broadcasts a tape-delayed version at 10 a.m. ET.
The real shame is that many of the game’s best prospects didn’t get the spotlight they probably deserved. On Saturday, 26 of the top 100 prospects played in the game, including seven ranked among the top 20.
If MLB genuinely wanted to grow the game, it should have given tomorrow’s stars the proper stage to showcase their skills. Instead, they were the warm-up act for pop culture influencers, artists and entertainers.
