LOL at the newest ballpark coming in at next-to-last.
I’m guessing a lot of Dodger Stadium’s low rating is related to the traffic and parking, which is why everyone leaves the games early. Been several years since my last visit as well, and it took nearly two hours just to get onto the 10 freeway, which is just right around the corner from the ballpark.
Super interesting, thanks for linking.
Surprised to see MN in the middle, buy that’s with top marks except for a shitty “family experience”. I guess I could see that. It’s expensive, it’s in downtown, there isn’t much kid-oriented stuff at the park.
The Indians won a bunch of people free windows.
Like any sane company that runs this kind of promotion, they insured it. The insurance cost them $75,000 and they got way more than that in free publicity. Small wonder they held a watch party last night.
I read about that before the game took place. Not only will this be worth its weight in gold for publicity, I got to believe that they will also get a ton of repeat business off this. This was a bargain at $75k for this company. For the insurance company, not so much.
The insurance company insured it.
You can insure that? Isn’t that just sports gambling?
In the states at least, you can get business insurance on promotions like that where there’s an unsure outcome. In fact, there are dedicated businesses that act as middle-men and handlers who help run these promotions (and set up the insurance) and pitch them to companies.
It’s a fine line, but technically not considered sports gambling, at least for legal purposes.
Promotions are not considered gambling and they are routinely insured. As for the insurance company, claims liability of that size is, in turn, routinely reinsured. So the initial insurance company is on the hook only up to a certain point and the remainder of the loss is spread among reinsurers. That way no one company takes a devastating hit.
Like any insurance business, they use the money made from all the other promotions they underwrite (‘make a half-court shot and win this car’ etc) to cover the few payouts they have to make. There is also a ‘reinsurance’ industry. They might well have taken out a policy on their policy.
edit: in other words - what Jason said…
Jimmy Nelson’s always been kind of an enigma. He was hyped as a generational prospect, a #1 starter with a ceiling that might place him someday among the league’s elite. And he’s got good stuff, too. Hard fastball, nasty curve.
But he’s never seemed to put it together and live up to the hype…until the last month or so. It’s as if someone flipped the light switch on for him, and he’s been flat out nasty of late.
And then last night, while shutting out the division-leading Cubs, he jammed his should sliding back into first on a pickoff. Today’s MRI results aren’t good: partial labrum tear, strained rotator cuff, likely needs surgical repair. Done for the season, obviously…and those sound like career-trajectory changing injuries.
I love this from Emma Span at SI.com:
The Indians won on Saturday. And also on Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, Sunday, last Saturday, last Friday, last Thursday, last Wednesday, last Tuesday, last Monday, last Sunday, the Saturday before last, the Friday before last and the Thursday before last.
The Dodgers lost on Saturday. And also on Friday, Thursday… well, let’s skip it, you get the idea. It isn’t quite the inverse of Cleveland’s glorious stretch, but this 6-5 loss to the Rockies made it nine in a row, and 14 of 15. And yes, this started the day SI’s Dodgers cover – “Best. Team. Ever?” – hit newsstands.
Im sure thats true but someone has to pay in the insurance industry and while its surely a factored in cost of business, I have never heard of an insurance company that is thrilled about paying any claim let alone a 7 figure one. So yeah, still not so much.
Of course someone has to pay and of course the’re never thrilled about it, but, as you say, it’s factored into the premiums charged for every promotion that’s insured and, despite the occasional payout like this, I have no doubt it’s a profitable business for the insurer.
Cleveland fans remember;
That year (1987), the Indians went 62-100 and wouldn’t post a winning record until the strike-shortened season of 1994. The Dodgers would win the World Series in 1988, fwiw.
Dodger twitter gets better every night. Been truly amazing of late.
I got a Cory Snyder autographed baseball at about the time that cover appeared thinking it would be really valuable because he was going to be a star.
Since my own team is shit, Cleveland is definitely my rooting interest this year. They seem like a pretty fun team to watch.
But really, anyone who can beat the Dodgers…
As a Blue Jays fan, I’m rooting for Cleveland to win the World Series just because Edwin Encarnacion was so awesome to watch when he was with the Jays.
At the start of the year I was thinking CLE could set the MLB wins record in this division, but then Twins were startlingly competent. Ye gods, the rest of the Central though.