The Los Angeles Angels aren’t broadcasting a single Spring Training game with their own broadcast team.
It’s a decision that has made pretty much no one happy.
The Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher reported this news earlier in the week.
Awful Announcing explained it a bit further:
“Fans who want to watch will have to hope the opponent broadcasts and makes it available via the MLB app. Otherwise, they can listen on radio. The only exception is the Freeway Series against the Dodgers, which will air in Southern California because the Dodgers have their broadcast operation running.”
The Angels are one of the teams who will be partnering with MLB to stream their games directly to in-market fans this season, but Fletcher reported that details are still being worked out for the regular season.
That’s likely not the only reason they aren’t broadcasting the spring games, but it can’t help.
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MLB insider Ken Rosenthal spoke Friday on Foul Territory and expressed how baffled he was.
“I don’t know all the details here, but you’re keeping your product away from your fans,” Rosenthal began. “And if the idea of spring training and televising spring training games is to get people excited for the regular season, well, the Angels are failing in that regard.”
Rosenthal then bashes the Angels a bit more.
“Now, their team isn’t all that exciting to begin with, but that’s the point,” Rosenthal said. “The televising of spring training games is largely promotional. It gives fans an appetite, gets them ready for the season, gets people interested in some of the new players that you might have. So, from that perspective, I don’t understand what the Angels are doing. Again, I don’t know all the particulars, the ins and outs of the television arrangement, but not to have any spring training games televised, not good.”
He’s certainly right. It’ll be hard for Angels fans to be excited about the season ahead when they don’t get to watch their team at all before it starts.
