Rob Manfred says shorter commercial breaks could be MLB’s pace of play solution
MLB’s never-ending quest to speed up the pace of the game could include shorter commercial breaks, commissioner Rob Manfred told Forbes.
“I fully agree with the idea of examining our commercial load in our broadcasts and is something that we should be doing,” Manfred told Forbes’s Maury Brown. “There are contractual limitations on when we can do this; we have existing commitments. But, that certainly should be an issue we look at, as well.”
MLB has taken numerous measures in recent years to trim the length of its games, placing restrictions on when batters can step out of the box, restricting the length of coaching visits to the mound and placing a time limit on between-inning breaks. New pace of play rules instituted this season include eliminating the four-pitch intentional walk and forcing managers to decide within 30 seconds whether they will challenge a call.
Rules enacted for the 2015 season helped reduce game time by about six minutes on average, but players have pushed back against the rules that will go into effect this season.
