O’Donnell: Bob Costas advocating change to reenergize MLB All-Star Game

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S ALL-STAR GAME is withering between the lines.

If the Cubs land the fading exhibition for 2027, that status will be amended to merely withering between the vines.

Bob Costas — now acknowledged as one of the sport's grand statesmen — has some thoughts on that hitch that he shared with the Daily Herald this week.

But the unvarnished speedball is that the vast majority of Americans will again ignore what was once one of the great entries on the annual sports calendar.

Now a retrospective on the life and times of Simon Cowell would likely draw more viewers.

THE GAME HAS DEVOLVED into a midsummer exercise staged only for the hardest-core of MLB fans.

Rob Manfred and associates will put on the 95th edition of the ASG Tuesday night in Atlanta (7 p.m., Fox).

But the whole world won't be watching an increasingly unwieldy non-spectacle that offers a selection process that has become of greater interest to the mainstream public than the game itself.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, the All-Star Game commanded close to 40M viewers and more than half of all households in the nation watching TV.

Now, the ASG hasn't drawn an audience greater than 10 million since 2015 and hasn't tipped above 8M since 2021. Its audience share hasn't hit the teens since 2014.

The core solution of Costas is straightforward and one he has been far ahead of the media posse about since the pandemic.

Quite simply, he says scrap the carbon-dated National League vs. American League format and instead go global in rostering.

ACCORDING TO COSTAS: “At this point, the best way to tweak it, if you want it to have more meaning and appeal, is to have international players vs. American-born players.

“Think of the possibilities. Think of the different perspectives that sort of contest would bring about.

“Look at the other all-star games right now. The NBA is struggling with it. The NFL Pro Bowl weekend isn't really a football game at all.

“The one league that has addressed fan interest and has had some success with a new format is the NHL. Look at the positive attention it drew with the 4 Nations Face-off last winter. They drew up a new concept, and both players and fans were invested in it. The increase in interest was obvious.

“So if Tuesday night was the International All-Stars vs. American-born, just for that one night, some current teammates would be opponents. National and American Leaguers would be teammates. Shohei Ohtani vs. Clayton Kershaw. Aaron Judge vs. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (who is Bahamian-born).”

COSTAS POINTS NO FINGERS regarding the falling attention MLB's midsummer bypass receives.

“This is not a matter of fault,” he said. “It is a matter of circumstance.

“With interleague play and player movement, league identity has been diminished. This would be a fresh approach that might engage more fans and even increase competitiveness in the fashion of the (World Baseball Classic).

“Viewing habits have changed exponentially. Not just more channels but so many more different ways to get baseball content.”

WHILE FATHER TIME REMAINS UNDEFEATED, Costas offered perspective on the diamond diminishment from the days when a whole lot of 10-year-old kids could name at least 20 players on the next MLB team coming to their city:

“Generations ago, the All-Star Game was one of the very few opportunities to see National League stars if you lived in an American League city or the reverse if you lived in an N.L. city.

“Plus, the truly great, perennial all-stars almost always stayed with one team. So they were identified with that team and that league.

“Now it is all so different. But it all is also so primed for new parameters and fresh energy.”

FRESH CONCEPT … international interest … a unique, once-a-year viewing experience for fans.

Hardly too much for Manfred and Co. to imagineer.

Costas remains hopeful, in part because there seems to be no other way back up:

“All the hoopla surrounding the All-Star game, especially the Home Run Derby, has appealed to some fans. But it doesn't seem as if it's boosted interest or ratings for the game itself.”

THAT IS THE CHARGE to the MLB establishment.

Is anybody listening?

Because few and fewer are watching.

Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.