Opening Day is heralded by baseball fans across America and the globe as the official start of the baseball season. It marks the beginning of “America’s favorite pastime” as people will go out or tune in to games from now until October. However, the MLB (Major League Baseball) did an awful job selling opening day to fans.
For starters, the MLB decided to have a two-game ‘Tokyo Series’ played in Tokyo Dome a week and a half before Opening Day. This meant the Dodgers and Cubs were already two games into the season before Opening Day had occurred. This can easily alienate an audience that is primarily made up of U.S. residents, watching a sport that is beloved by U.S. fans. This does not mean zero games should be played overseas, it simply could have been done better.
Additionally, Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season fell the same night as March Madness’s Sweet Sixteen. It is no surprise that viewership of one sporting event will be affected by another major sporting event going on at the same time. I’m not sure what a good solution would be for this, but it seems that the MLB could have planned it out better.
Finally, and most importantly, MLBtv, the main streaming service of MLB games, experienced network issues the entirety of Opening Day. Personally, I was disappointed that I was unable to watch the Phillies, and I know millions across America resonated with my frustration. It is a major miss on the part of the MLB to not have all of the possible kinks worked out with their streaming platform on Opening Day.
I believe the MLB did a poor job selling to fans for Opening Day. They forced their clients (viewers) to choose between their product (watching the games) and another product (March Madness). Most importantly, the MLB failed to provide on their product after selling it. In any sales scenario, the seller should be looking for a mutually beneficial exchange by looking to alleviate the pain of the prospective buyer. The MLB caused pain by not delivering a working product in MLB tv.
williamsef24 
karnssk22
You make a great point about the MLB missing opportunities to create excitement around Opening Day. From overseas games to competing with March Madness and streaming issues, they definitely dropped the ball. In sales, delivering on promises is key, and MLB failed to provide the seamless experience fans expect. Tsk tsk.