[chucksabr]

League Halts Live Radio Broadcasts.

In reaction to the drastically falling gate of the past several seasons, the Baseball League has moved to disallow broadcasts of all live league baseball games commencing with the 1932 season. The move comes as attendance to league games have dropped by 63 per cent. since the high mark of the 1925 season, due to the economic difficulties enveloping Great Britain. Occasional League broadcasts have been occurring since the first match was played on the radio in 1926.

The argument of detractors against radio is that national broadcasts of popular clubs and games undermines support for local clubs both in the lower levels of the League, and of non-League and amateur clubs around the country, especially in the early portions of the season, when the weather is particularly cold and the elements unkind, and a man must be a diehard, dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast to turn up at a match. But it really requires no enthusiasm to sit at ease with slippers on, peacefully smoking and listening in. The concern of the League is that baseball is being transformed by radio into a “parlour game” and is thus challenging the commitment of the dedicated supporter.

Supporters of radio broadcasts of League matches counter that running commentaries broadcast during the game actually help popularise the sport by bringing the thrill of the match to those who are only temporarily unable to afford the price of admission during the current slump. The director of Outside Broadcasting claims to have “indisputable evidence of a growing interest in British baseball directly due to broadcasting running commentaries.”

There is still a great likelihood that the most important of matches, such as those contests in the EOI Cup Series, might still be broadcast to the degree that they can be considered sporting events of national import, in the same manner as the Grand National, the Derby, the Boat Race, Wimbledon, Cricket Tests, and the FA Cup matches are so considered.