Don't lose sight of a sport itself

By Nick Pinkerton

I can't stand it at sporting events when a popular song comes on while I wait for play to resume.

For example, when a baseball player steps up to the plate, he is accompanied by fifteen or twenty seconds of an overplayed rock or hip-hop song.

You see this in baseball, soccer, hockey and just about any other team sport--professional, collegiate or otherwise. It festers inside arenas, stadiums and fields across the country.

After enduring this for years, I'm certain that Ben Stein monologues would be more enjoyable.

This attempt at entertainment is more repetitive than an Allen Iverson press conference.

It is tearing away at our appreciation for music faster than a Guitar Hero tournament and is interrupting the fans' connection to the game.

How does a teaser clip of "You Shook Me All Night Long" or "I Gotta Feeling" factor into the intensity of an improbable fourth quarter comeback or a nail-biting defensive struggle? Such audible fillers clog up the atmosphere of a real-time event that is designed to keep spectators on the edge of their seats.

I understand that organizations want to provide customers with an overall fan experience, one that emphasizes entertainment in multiple forums.

However, fans are not going to factor twenty seconds of Bon Jovi or Chris Brown into buying a ticket. They are primarily there to watch the game.

If an organization does not have any other ways to entertain its fans during a stoppage in play besides twenty seconds of banality, it should focus the attention of the fans to the game.

Put some vibrant images on the video board and get the fans cheering more. Utilize your mascot if you have one, or pass out little "Go Team" signs or rally rags that everyone can wave around. These are all cheap, fan-oriented ideas that everyone is bound to enjoy.

By taking up otherwise useless time and giving fans more value to their tickets, perhaps organizations will erase their recent attendance issues. This could certainly come in handy for the struggling professional teams and leagues that are making headlines.

I'm not saying that music between the action has been harming ticket sales, but unless organizations get their tires out of the mud, sports are going to lose sight of what makes them stand out to other forms of entertainment in the first place.

For some organizations, this really may be "The Final Countdown."