On Tuesday, the American Association made a notable announcement that the league’s annual All-Star Game will be televised on MLB Network.
The game will be hosted by the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park, with first pitch scheduled for 8:30 EDT/7:30 CDT on Wednesday, July 15. The Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Company Home Run Derby will precede the game at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are available here.
Shrewd scheduling leads to major move
Simply put, independent Partner League baseball does not make it onto traditional television all that much, with nationally-televised games being a fantasy. The only time I could find a nationally-televised independent/Partner League baseball game was the 2006 Frontier League All-Star Game, which was broadcast nationally on the Fox Sports regional networks.
Naturally, the question you could ask is “how did the American Association pull this off?” The answer definitely involves negotiations and conversations between the league and MLB Network, but the fact that MLB Network even entertained the idea is much more simple: the schedule.
The 13 previous American Association All-Star Games were all scheduled at different times than the MLB midsummer classic, usually 1-2 weeks after in late July (2022’s game was held one week before MLB). Those dates were all right in the middle of a full MLB slate, so any outlet that regularly airs baseball wouldn’t be interested at all. End of story.
This year, however, the AA overlapped their All-Star break with MLB’s; both leagues will be dormant from July 13-16 (save for one MLB game on the 16th). While MLB’s Home Run Derby and All-Star Game will take place on July 13-14, the AA scheduled their festivities for the 15th. Notably, the league moved the Home Run Derby to the same day as the game instead of the day prior as is usually the case (the Derby will not be shown on MLB Network, just the game).
The idea is rather simple: the day after the MLB All-Star Game is almost always the one day of the year where no major sports are taking place. Therein lies the opportunity in availability.
With the game taking place on a night where MLB Network has no games to cover (MiLB also is off for the All-Star Break at the same time and they no longer play all-star games), the opportunity was there for the first-ever MLB Partner League game broadcast on MLB Network.
Now comes the hard part
You could argue just getting the game to MLB Network was the hard part, but with that major hurdle clear, there are just over three weeks left to make this the perfect showcase for the league and Partner League baseball as a whole.
The first one: putting butts in the seats. Lincoln has shown they can get people to show up for a big promotion, with Taylor Swift and Disney-themed promotions in the last three years drawing over 8,000 fans apiece. With that said, getting fans in the door on Wednesday nights is a lot tougher.
Yes, there are three weeks before the game, but sales are…not looking great. To be fair, that’s been a constant with AA All-Star Games post-COVID. 2022’s game in Chicago drew a respectable 4,143, but 2023’s in Milwaukee drew just 2,255 and last year’s in Fargo drew 3,033. Kansas City did not announce a figure in 2024, but estimates I’ve heard were in the 1,500-2,000 range in-park. None of those games were remotely close to selling out.
With a chance to showcase the American Association, the league and Saltdogs have to do everything they can to move as many tickets as possible. The last thing the league needs is for people who know little to nothing about the league to tune in and see their very best…playing in front of thousands of empty seats. Simply put, drawing an excellent crowd and putting a buzz in the park needs to be objective 1A. A dead park absolutely negatively affects a TV product.
Objective 1B is figuring out what the broadcast will look like. That in itself will be an intriguing question. Will MLB Network send their own talent and crew? Will the league send an All-Star team of their own on-air talent? Will they just essentially take Saltdogs voice Rich Ray and the normal Saltdogs broadcast and send that feed straight to the MLBN studios in New Jersey?
The league wants a great visual, but they also need people on the headsets who are good at calling a baseball game, know the American Association well, and can sell the league in a positive light. If the league has no say in broadcast talent (which is certainly a possibility), that is absolutely a legitimate concern.
The opportunity that exists
This season, the two true national stories to feature Partner League baseball (both in the Atlantic League) have been less than stellar: the Long Island Ducks signing polarizing pitcher Trevor Bauer, and the York Revolution cancelling (and forfeiting) their Pride Night game because most of their roster refused to wear the specialty jerseys for that night.
The point is, when independent/Partner League baseball makes it into the mainstream, usually its for a bad reason. But this is a rare opportunity for the AA to bring an unquestionably positive thing in front of a large audience and control the messaging around it.
On a typical weeknight, MLB Network averages roughly 170,000-200,000 viewers. Even if only 100,000 people tune in, it will still be a massive audience for any non-MLB game and magnitudes larger than typical American Association viewership.
Chances are that a good chunk of those who stumble upon the game will have little to no knowledge of the AA, so this is an excellent chance to give those people a positive view into the American Association and one the league might not get again.
Plus, if all goes well, there’s the possibility of future All-Star Games making their way to MLB Network (or potentially even larger networks). More eyes on the league could also lead to more players being signed by MLB teams and enticing more (and better) players to choose to come to the AA.
And there’s the potential (if unlikely) nuclear fallout in 2027: if MLB labor relations go completely to hell next winter and a major work stoppage wipes out a large chunk of the MLB season, the AA could position themselves for more widespread exposure in the absence of Major League Baseball. Pie in the sky? Absolutely, but even more opportunities can arise out of the most unlikely of scenarios.
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