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Mercy Rules in Professional Sports: Competition vs Entertainment
Blowouts are inevitable in sports, but comebacks are also having a renaissance. A moment to consider the potential of mercy rules in professional sports.
Over the weekend I got an alert on my phone from the ESPN app. I looked at my screen in bewilderment as it said that the Los Angeles Angels were up 23–0 on the Colorado Rockies in the 4th inning…of a baseball game. The Angels would go on to win the game 25–1, good for the 11th largest run differential in a game in the history of the MLB. It is a scoreline so obscene in the professional ranks that it truly shocks the viewer.
Many have taken this opportunity to suggest a mercy rule for professional sports. This is something we typically see in youth and high school sports, although it has occasionally occurred in college sports, where a game is ended or shortened because one side’s lead appears to be insurmountable. I posed this question online and there were a few answers that came through on suggested framework for this to occur (such as a 42 point lead in football, a 15 run lead in baseball, or a 50 point lead in basketball). But the overarching question is, should such parameters even be in place or do they ruin the integrity of professional sports?
