Where I grew up the local high school game was on the radio every Friday night. A lot of the small businesses and local restaurants had the game on.
Same thing with the Arkansas Razorbacks games on Saturdays. Everyone had it on their radio. It brought in business. My buddies and I often went to the Diary Bar to eat and listen to the game. Sometimes we’d push tables together and have 8 or more people. The corner stores had it on too.
Great memories. It created a local fan base. Even if someone isn’t a big football, basketball or baseball fan. They can’t help but get drawn into close games. Scores tied! We got the ball! Arkansas scores!!! It makes your entire day.
Now on game days there’s NOTHING. No matter where you go it’s the same boring muzak. It’s a given the sterile corporate chains ignore anything local. But I visit a lot of mom & pop places and they just look at me when I ask why the game isn’t on. I asked the manager of my local burger place and he’s a big Hog fan. He wants to air the Razorback games. At least turn on a radio. But the owner says no.
I feel sorry for the kids together. Life just isn’t the same without the enthusiasm for local sports. It was such a big part of my childhood.
Wasn’t this common in most places? If the Cubs were playing didn’t a lot of Chicago businesses turn on the radio? Stores? Restaurants? Or the Dodgers, you’d hear the game everywhere in Brooklyn. (before they moved to LA)
I don’t know any places that play the radio at all. They’ll have local teams on the TV, except for some ethnic places that have soccer on. I think that’s just a loop because it’s always the same thing, nobody scoring.
I prefer the radio because they describe the plays in more detail. I can still do stuff like clean up the kitchen, read the news etc and listen to the game.
TV forces you to watch. It gets in the way of everyday life.
There are still plenty of sports bars/restaurants around, but generally I see an older crowd there. Of course, you might have some trouble getting into your local Barney’s Beanery unless you’re over 21 anyway…
Sports bars still exist. And many restaurants with TVs will have the local game on.
People who are out and about shopping during the local game may not be fans of the sport. If they were they’d be at home watching or at the sports bar. So putting it on the radio would turn off those customers.
It’s a lot easier to move to different parts of the country. People generally take their original teams with them rather than follow the local team. Maybe even some of those business owners back a team that isn’t the local one.
You can’t legally air the game - even if it’s an over-the-air broadcast - in a public venue without paying for it. Those sports bars and restaurants are all operating under rebroadcasting licenses from whatever league they’re showing. There are exceptions for home parties and “home-style” displays, but it’s something that leagues keep a close eye on and prosecute vigorously.
I thought that was for promoted events? If Tom’s Sports Bar puts up a banner “Come Watch the Games Every Weekend”. Then he’s paying a fee.
But a clock radio on the counter of a small diner? That’s just turned on? Theres no promotion or anything. The employees are listening because they’re local fans. Customers who happen to stop by can follow the game too. That used to be very common when I was a kid.
You yourself said they were doing it to bring in customers. There are some allowances for “home-like” playing of the radio. But the more you’re doing it for the customers, the more likely you are going to have to pay a license fee. And they’re already paying for the right to play Muzak, so why not just stick with it?
Keep in mind, that was also way before the smart phone days. It’s much easier to keep on top of scores, for either the local team or a team 8000 miles away
Radio is not the medium it used to be. Even a generation ago, the internet wasn’t as popular since computers were expensive. TVs were expensive. Radios were cheap. People would listen to the radio for the things they get from TV or the internet today.
Go back two generations, and it is even more so. This puts us in the 1970s and there was no personal computer or internet to speak of. TVs were expensive, bulky, and even cable TV was very limited. A portable TV would have a small B&W screen, weigh 20-40 Lbs, and still have to be plugged into 120VAC power. Radio was the only dependable medium the average guy could access easily and keep up with news and sports.
Go back one more generation, 1950s, and TV wasn’t even ubiquitous. Transistorized radios were becoming available, which meant they could be small enough to be put in cars or carried on your person and powered by dry cell batteries. Not only was the radio the only way to get information (other than waiting for the newspapers), but they were in cars, diners, even in the park.
Go back farther than that, if you wanted to know how the local teams were doing, you had to go to the game, talk to someone who went to the game, or read the newspaper.
So far our local sports radio stations are going strong. That may eventually change after my generation is gone. My generation lived and thrived for forty years without the Internet. I love it now but still love getting my weather reports from TV. My sports from radio.
I was feeling so nostalgic last night. The Razorback TCU game went into double overtime. I was yelling and screaming them on to victory in the car. It was like I was 16 again.
Radio is the perfect medium to listen to a game in the car. Brings you back to being a kid again.
