Major League Baseball Encouraged by Large Markets in Playoffs

October is the month of months for Major League Baseball.

With three of four division series finally starting today -- only on cable's Turner Sports -- this postseason marks the first time five of the top seven Nielsen media markets are represented.

With New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Boston taking part along with Cleveland (the 14th largest U.S. market), Phoenix (16) and Denver (18), the outlook is bright for television networks.

"This postseason, with the teams involved we have, is an absolute dream for a network."
Turner Sports President David Levy told USA Today.

Right he is.

It's all about major markets and big cities when the postseason arrives. That will drive up television ratings and in turn advertising dollars which will then help networks in setting higher pricing bars for future events.

Levy said that the Cubs "could make this a cherished postseason with sky-high ratings."

Cubs President & COO John McDonough added: "I don't want to sound presumptuous and say what's good for the Cubs is good for baseball, but from a TV ratings standpoint, it's seismic."

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig appeared on ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" yesterday and was asked if he was rooting for the Cubs to play either the Yankees or Red Sox in the World Series.

"I won't support (the idea I'm rooting for one team), obviously. There's no question if you got to a Cubs-Red Sox, Cubs-Yankees World Series, it would be spectacular."

Make no mistake, Selig and the Fox network are rooting for the Cubs.

The network hasn't gotten over the oh-so-close ratings bonanza in 2003, when the Cubs (who haven't reached the World Series since 1945 and won it since 1908) were five outs from the World Series only to lose to the Florida Marlins. They would have played the Yankees that year in the Fall Classic.