By 47 to 26 Percent Margin, People Call for Multi-game Series in MLB Wild Card Round

South Orange NJ, September 27, 2018 — With Major League Baseball’s post-season play beginning on Tuesday, a wide margin believe that the Wild Card round should be more than a single elimination game. By a margin of 47%-26%, public opinion favors a multi-game series.

That was the finding of a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this week among 780 Americans on land lines and cellphones, with a margin of error of +/- 3.6%. The Seton Hall Sports Poll is conducted by the Stillman School of Business and its Sharkey Institute. Rick Gentile is the director.

The Poll also found that:
57% believe large market teams have an advantage over smaller market teams in advancing to the post season, with only 13% saying they do not.

Asked about the institution of a limit on mound visits during a game, 23% said it resulted in improved pace of play, with 21% saying it did not. 42% had no opinion or did not know.

“The call for added games in the wild card round may be influenced by having the Yankees and Dodgers (the two biggest markets) both potentially playing a one-and-done game,” noted Gentile. “Admittedly, added games pushes the post-season deeper into November, and that could present a problem for MLB, the Players Association and the networks.”

ABOUT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall University has been a catalyst for leadership — developing students in mind, heart and spirit — since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S.News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall, which embraces students of all religions, prepares its graduates to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. Its attractive main campus is located in suburban South Orange, New Jersey, and is only 14 miles by train, bus or car from New York City, offering a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. The university’s nationally recognized School of Law is prominently located in downtown Newark.

For more information, visit www.shu.edu.

About the poll:

This poll was conducted by telephone September 24-26 among 780 adults in the United States. The Seton Hall Sports Poll is conducted by the Sharkey Institute.

Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard landline and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The Seton Hall Sports Poll has been conducted regularly since 2006.

Media: Media: Marty Appel, AppelPR@gmail.com;
Michael Ricciardelli, Associate Director of Media Relations, Seton Hall
michael.ricciardelli@shu.edu, 908-447-3034

The results:

1- Do you think rules changes in baseball like limiting trips to the pitcher’s mound have resulted in improved pace of play?

1-Yes                                                  23%

2- No                                                  21

3- Don’t know/No opinion             55

 

2- Do you think big market baseball teams have an advantage over smaller market teams in advancing to the post-season?

 

1-Yes                                                  57

2-No                                                   13

3-Don’t know/No opinion              30

 

3- Do you think a one-game playoff between the Wild Card winners is fair or should it be multiple games?

1-Fair                                                    26

2-Multiple games                               47

3-Don’t know/No opinion                 27

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.