'Sunday Night Baseball' time change could be good test for World Series

The 30th season of “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN will bring with it a pretty significant change for players and viewers alike. The 24-hour sports network and Major League Baseball announced Monday that the start times for Sunday night games in 2019 will be moved up one hour, going from 8 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET.

As Newsday noted, it continues a trend of ESPN making a push to bump up the starting time of staple sports programming. In recent years, ESPN and the NFL agreed to move up “Monday Night Football” broadcasts over a full hour from 9:10 p.m. ET to 8:15 p.m. ET.

It sounds like a full-time move for MLB’s flagship weekly broadcast. All but two of the games so far announced for the 2019 season will start at the new time.

Looking at the even bigger picture, perhaps this change will prompt the self-examination MLB has long needed when it comes to scheduling postseason games. Most notably, now seems like a great time to examine whether starting every World Series game after 8 p.m. ET is really in the game’s best interest.

Ratings-driven decision

As is every decision made by a television company, the decision to move up “Sunday Night Baseball” is heavily influenced by the ratings.

In 2018, the Sunday night ratings went on a steady downward trend. The hope with the earlier start time is that more fans will not only watch the beginning of the game, but will feel like they can invest in the game for three hours. It should also limit the overlap with “Sunday Night Football” broadcasts during the NFL season and other popular Sunday night television shows and events.

Postseason impact

MLB is always determined to get more eyeballs on its product. That’s especially true in the postseason, where the stakes are highest on the field and on the ratings front.

The 2018 World Series highlighted the struggles MLB has had drawing fans even when the games matter most. Despite a marquee matchup that involved two top-10 television markets, the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers drew, four-year lows in the ratings.

Sports Media Watch dismissed the length of games as a culprit, noting that this year’s series saw declines compared to last year’s World Series even in games that ended earlier. But it’s possible some fans decided to not invest this year after seeing several of the 2017 World Series games end well after midnight on the east coast.

There are many variables involved. Many that are difficult to measure. But it seems like the earlier start time for “Sunday Night Baseball” could shed some light on whether fans will be motivated to watch if there’s an interesting baseball game on TV before they have time to make other plans.

Benefits for players too

The viewer is undoubtedly the biggest priority. However, the players and fans attending Sunday night games will stand to benefit too. With Sunday almost always being a getaway day for road teams, the earlier start will allow an earlier departure and a little less stressful traveling.

There was one instance in 2018 that got MLB’s attention in this regard. After ESPN flexed a New York Yankees afternoon game in Toronto into the Sunday night time slot on July 8, the Yankees threatened to boycott ESPN personnel the rest of the season. The Yankees were scheduled to play a doubleheader the following day in Baltimore.

In the end, MLB sided with the Yankees and made ESPN pick a different game. It highlights the difficult position road teams playing on Sunday night find themselves in.

Early 2019 schedule

Here’s the first look at the early “Sunday Night Baseball” schedule. Further announcements will be made closer to the season.

As always, there’s a lot of Yankees-Red Sox on there. Four games to be exact. Clearly ESPN isn’t as worried about fatigue over seeing that same matchup over and over again.

More from Yahoo Sports:

• Fed-up Redskins fans leave amid historic blowout
• Missed NFL record is the most mind-blowing moment of day
• Chiefs QB’s no-look pass will leave you stunned
• Martin: Cowboys now serious NFC contenders