I made a list and re-ordered it, randomly.
Rugby World Cup,
NFL season kick-off,
NCAA Football season kick-off,
US Open Tennis,
Nascar Nextel Cup finals,
PGA FedEx Cup playoff series,
WNBA Playoffs,
World Track and Field championship,
David Beckham and the MLS,
USA Basketball in FIBA Americas tourney
Baseball stretch drive ...
I asked a good friend, based in New England, to consider the list and send me his sports priorities.
He replied:
1. Red Sox
2. Red Sox
3-499. Red Sox
500. Patriots
That is how tough it is for the likes of the USTA, PGA, Nascar, WNBA and MLS to get attention at this time of year.
If it's not the Red Sox dominating the headlines and TV ratings in New England (a record 22 rating on NESN on Tue evening), it's the fanatic college football fans tuning in to see their beloved Sooners, Trojans, Hurricanes, Vols or Fighting Irish open the NCAA football season this weekend.
In world sport, the World Rugby championship and World Athletics championship garner far more attention outside of the USA than they do within the 50 states. Timing has a lot to do with it.
Viewpoint: The WNBA season, circa 1997, ended on Labor Day weekend. (September). This year, the schedule calls for the WNBA Finals to run between Sept. 5-16, far too long into the NFL and college football schedules. Less might be more and the overall season schedule should be reduced to allow the playoffs to end by the first week in September.
The US Open and USTA, the PGA and NASCAR are all fighting for eye balls. They have all taken similar routes to gaining attention with the year-end series concept and playoffs for the PGA and NASCAR. The US Open tennis tournament is enjoying sell-out crowds and tons of attention in New York. Not sure if those football fans in Dallas care quite as much?
One item spotted from weekend TV ratings. The Little League world series out-rated the Big Boys last weekend (LA Dodgers at NY Mets) by .02 a ratings point.
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