Sports on Easter

[johnnysama]

You know, with Easter coming up next week, I was thinking: In North America, Christmas belongs to the NBA, New Year's Day to NHL and College Football's biggest bowl games, Thanksgiving has the NFL and CFL (depending on which side of the border you're on), but what about Easter? That one is hard to pin down, but, IMO.....

 

I think baseball's opening weekend, ongoing NHL and NBA action (what with both teams going down to the wire before the playoffs begin) should be synonmous with Easter. Granted, there have been a few spring football leagues that have attempted to join the party, but baseball/hockey/basketball are the big draws on Easter, I feel.

 

What say you?

[FiddySicks]

I mean, I think it already is. Easter is synonymous with spring, and so is the start of baseball. I don’t think the link to Easter itself would work because of the religious aspect of it (which I understand Christmas too, but that’s been mostly drowned by capitalism). I grew up about as Catholic as you can get and even I think that’s a bit weird. I think it would be a surprisingly tough sell. 

[infrared41]

24 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

I don’t think the link to Easter itself would work because of the religious aspect of it (which I understand Christmas too, but that’s been mostly drowned by capitalism).

 

Exactly. Easter is the one mainstream Christian holiday on the calendar that is actually more about Christianity than it is about selling stuff.  I'm not at all religious and I'd still find a sports tie-in with Easter to be pretty weird and uncomfortable.

 

That aside, Easter doesn't fall on the same day every year so your tie-in would always be changing.

[dont care]

NASCAR tried with Bristol dirt on Easter Sunday and it hasn’t gone over well. Rating tanked being on the holiday. I don’t know where they are racing this year on Easter but I don’t think they are promoting it as such but more they are racing and it happens to be on Easter because they couldn’t get around the 2 week Olympic break.

[RyanMcD29]

When Easter Sunday falls on the final round of The Masters it hits the mark. NCAA Tournament or the Stanley Cup/NBA Playoffs sorta do, but nothing like when it's Masters Sunday

[Cujo]

Easter always falling on a Sunday kinda prevents it from being any more special than any other weekend.

[MJWalker45]

I find it funny that some people are dogging the UFL for having San Antonio play on Easter Sunday, because they have this overstated idea that the primarily Hispanic population of San Antonio is too religious in terms of Easter.  I don't really think that's going to affect the stadium attendance as much as the lack of marketing did last year. 

On 3/23/2024 at 5:18 PM, infrared41 said:

That aside, Easter doesn't fall on the same day every year so your tie-in would always be changing.

This is also something important to remember. If Easter is closer to the end of April, baseball is already starting and college basketball is done. 

 

One holiday that I felt baseball should try using for a special event is 4th of July. Not by wearing special jerseys or hats, but by playing the All Star Game on the 4th of July, the same way Indy car does the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend.  I'd also think the NFL should move the start of the season to Labor Day weekend, with college football moving Week 1 to the week before permanently. They're doing that this year due to having an extra weekend with 2024 being a leap year. 

[infrared41]

36 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

This is also something important to remember. If Easter is closer to the end of April, baseball is already starting and college basketball is done. 

 

 

For example, Easter is on April 20th next year. (Nice of them to have it on my birthday. Wonder how they feel about the weed thing.)

[FiddySicks]

59 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

For example, Easter is on April 20th next year. (Nice of them to have it on my birthday. Wonder how they feel about the weed thing.)

You also share a birthday with a certain historical figure from Austria. 

[infrared41]

35 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

You also share a birthday with a certain historical figure from Austria. 

 

Yeah, I don't like to draw a lot of attention to that one. I much prefer people going with "you were born on 420? That's so cooool!"

 

In a related story, Don Mattingly and I were born on the same day and we were both scouted by Major League Baseball teams. He did a little better than I did with the baseball thing.

[Sec19Row53]

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[PTrudellJr]

On 3/24/2024 at 7:45 PM, MJWalker45 said:

I find it funny that some people are dogging the UFL for having San Antonio play on Easter Sunday, because they have this overstated idea that the primarily Hispanic population of San Antonio is too religious in terms of Easter.  I don't really think that's going to affect the stadium attendance as much as the lack of marketing did last year. 

This is also something important to remember. If Easter is closer to the end of April, baseball is already starting and college basketball is done. 

 

 

 

MJ, you're in San Antonio.  You know how big Easter is here.  Camping at the Brack (and other parks) days before Easter just so your spot's reserved for you and the familia...

 

I'm not Hispanic, but having lived in the city for 45 odd years, I know that it's a big deal down here.  Whereas I don't think it's going to be a major draw away from the game, I do believe it will take a couple thousand away from the game.

[MJWalker45]

36 minutes ago, PTrudellJr said:

 

MJ, you're in San Antonio.  You know how big Easter is here.  Camping at the Brack (and other parks) days before Easter just so your spot's reserved for you and the familia...

 

I'm not Hispanic, but having lived in the city for 45 odd years, I know that it's a big deal down here.  Whereas I don't think it's going to be a major draw away from the game, I do believe it will take a couple thousand away from the game.

Yeah, as much as they cracked down on it the last couple years and it still skipped my mind. Hahahahaha!!

[johnnysama]

On another note, both versions of the XFL (2001/2023), the WLAF and the 1980s and 2022/23 incarnations of the USFL have held games on Easter Sunday.

[MJWalker45]

6 minutes ago, johnnysama said:

On another note, both versions of the XFL (2001/2023), the WLAF and the 1980s and 2022/23 incarnations of the USFL have held games on Easter Sunday.

With spring football, it's unavoidable. 

[FrutigerAero]

No sport owns Easter cuz it moves.  You don't have the "all families inside, during the cold" aspect of Thanksgiving or Christmas or NY day.  I'm Christian and so remembrance of the resurrection isn't something that leads me to want to celebrate the day with sports.  Obviously everyday sports like baseball are going to have games, which they should but I can't see it being a special draw to anyone who places significance on the date, and for those who don't as much, it's just another Sunday.  Not a three-day weekend.

 

Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day would be more interesting to talk about, since Father's day totally should be something baseball can capitalize on.

[monkeypower]

3 minutes ago, FrutigerAero said:

No sport owns Easter cuz it moves.  You don't have the "all families inside, during the cold" aspect of Thanksgiving or Christmas or NY day.  I'm Christian and so remembrance of the resurrection isn't something that leads me to want to celebrate the day with sports.  Obviously everyday sports like baseball are going to have games, which they should but I can't see it being a special draw to anyone who places significance on the date, and for those who don't as much, it's just another Sunday.  Not a three-day weekend.

 

Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day would be more interesting to talk about, since Father's day totally should be something baseball can capitalize on.

 

My local summer collegiate team, the Okotoks Dawgs, have their Father's Day game as one of their premiere games along with Opening Day/Weekend and Canada Day.