Cleveland Indians Television Network

[C-town]

The Cleveland Indians are getting their own network seperate from other networks like FSN. It is going to broadcast 138 games 130 of which will be regular season games. I think that this is a great idea because I believe that this will actually attract more people to our stadium like we once did. During the 90's the Indians were shown on public television yet our stadium was sold out for over 5 years straight and led the league in attendance. I think this is a great idea because the more coverage we have of the Indians the more interest it sparks. If we get to watch a game every other day and we get to know our players a little more hopefully we will have the same kind of energy we used to have at our stadium. Don't get me wrong we are still nuts over our sports teams but as far as the Indian's it's not the same. We still pack the stands more than other baseball teams but I'm used to the completly full stadium full of energy and I hope that this is a start to getting that back.

If you want more info here is a link Indians Network

Do you think that it's a good idea for the Indian's to get a new network?

Do you think other teams should get their own network as well?

Just want to see what everyone else thinks since more and more teams are probably going to be doing this.

[PghUSA]

C-Town that is great news! But I wonder if there is much of a market for it outside metro Cleveland and Sandusky, Akron etc. Then again the Yankees have had great success with it and the Braves of course for a long while on TBS (a defacto network at best), but the Yanks had national following to leverage it on. Could be a nice loss leader for the Indians for the first few years, I'd love to see them succeed with it though!

[swh1972]

The only problem is if they force the Cleveland residents to pick up Cable or Satellite providers that carry the channel. I don't know too many people without Cable, but I'm sure they are out there.

From a revenue standpoint, this be help teams in Mid sized markets to close the gap with the Yankees and Red Sox of the League

[Evergrey]

The town I live in (Wooster)... doesn't have this network... not that I care... I'm a Pirates fan!

[Evergrey]

well apparently the Wooster cable company made a last-minute deal to get Indians game... woohoo

[PghUSA]

^^Good pt. Evergrey . . . I know that at least in the NFL and MLB teams have "territories". I wonder what the dividing line is between the Tribe and the Buccos, if you really think about it that whole area is probably the tightest two markets between Chicago and New York City.

[Evergrey]

Well, I live a half hour west of Canton. This is definately solid Indians territory... though I did see an older gentleman wearing a Pirates cap yesterday. Though this is Browns territory, there are MANY Steeler fans. I have a feeling more Pirate fans would come out of the woodwork if they weren't the most dismal franchise in sports history. According to http://www.commoncensus.org (and my own experience) the east-central and south-east portions of Ohio are Pirates territory (though I'm not sure if the official "market" is coincident with the geographic extent of the fanbase). The Ohio River from E. Liverpool south to Marietta... and inland for a bit... generally roots for Pittsburgh teams, since it is the closest major city. The Steelers and Pens are also quite popular in Youngstown (though I'm not sure about the Pirates).

Cle-Pit are quite tight... and probably is the tightest two markets between the two Chicago teams (plus Milwaukee) and the BosWash corridor. It's interesting that Pittsburgh's territory can extend so far east into the vast reaches of Central PA... but is rather curtailed extending west due to Cleveland.

I'm missing my Pirates living here in Indian Country

[PghUSA]

^^Great point, I used to work for a lady from Columbiana (just across the Pa. line) she was Indians, Browns, OSU, Cavs, etc. etc.--this was in Florida so I asked her why she rooted for all those teams an hour or more away when every time she flew home it was to Pittsburgh (you'd have to be a fool not to fly into PIT and just take 60 and the Turnpike to Columbiana). Oh she loves our airport and how close it is, "but I'm an Ohioan".

It does go to show how close the two metros are on sports rivalry, I only wish the Pirates and Indians would be in the same division and OSU and PSU would join Pitt's conference. Some great great games could happen then (OSU actually matches up pretty well with Pitt in basketball unlike PSU).