First pitch has been thrown. The Angels baseball season has officially started. How many Carl's Jr commercials will we see today? #AngelsBaseball
MLB Opening Day: Mike Trout Smashes Ball, Jack in the Box Smashes Burger
March 28, 2024
Today marks one of the most exciting days in baseball, opening day. Unless you are the Dodgers or Padres who played a couple of games in South Korea last week, these are the first games of the regular season. Opening day was off to a very strong start for Angels fans when Mike Trout hit a home run in the first inning, marking the first home run hit for any team this year. The early lead soon fell apart in a way that is not unfamiliar to Angels fans. The Angels lost 3-11 to the Orioles. At least I can say it was not as bad as the Rockies giving up 14 runs in one inning to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Baseball is officially back and I am prepared to watch as much of the 162 Angels games as I can. Will my sanity handle all of the fast food commercials that seem to play nonstop?
Viewers of Bally Sports will be quick to realize that Jack in the Box and Carl’s Jr. spend on a lot of money on advertising. It felt like nearly every break last season contained an advertisement for Carl’s Jr. I jokingly sent a message to my brother during the last Spring training game against the Dodgers asking if I should keep a tally of how many fast food commercials I watch this year. He said it would be a statistic he would be interested knowing. I have started to keep a live log on Mastodon of the fast food commercials I watch this baseball season.
I don’t know if it has anything to do with the game being broadcasted at noon instead of a typical 6:38 PM time slot, but the number of fast food commercials that I saw during the Angels game today was surprisingly low. I saw more fast food commercials when I flipped the channel to Spectrum SportsNet LA for a few moments to watch the Ohtani at-bats. There was a solid hour during the Angels game where I did not see a single fast food commercial.
A commercial break during the middle of the fifth inning marked the first time I saw a full fledged commercial for a fast food restaurant on Bally Sports. Jack in the Box ran two commercials for its Smashed Jack burger during that break. Leading up to that were two banner ads in the bottom of the second and third innings, which I am going to count as a separate category. Flipping the channel to SportsNet LA to watch Ohtani greeted me to two Carl’s Jr. commercials. Overall, these numbers were way lower than I was expecting.
The Breakdown
Bally Sports West
| Restaurant | Commercials | Banners |
|---|---|---|
| Jack in the Box | 2 | 2 |
Spectrum SportsNet LA
| Restaurant | Commercials | Banners |
|---|---|---|
| Carl’s Jr. | 2 | 0 |
Total
| Restaurant | Commercials | Banners |
|---|---|---|
| Carl’s Jr. | 2 | 0 |
| Jack in the Box | 2 | 2 |
The Logs
These logs were originally posted on this Mastodon thread.
Mid 1st commercials:
No fast food commercials.
End 1st:
No fast food commercials
Mid 2nd:
No fast food commercials
Bottom 2nd: Pitching change
Smashed Jack from Jack in the Box mentioned during the return from the commercial break. Not a full commercial, but the first mention of Jack in the Box this season. #JackInTheBox
End 2nd:
I flipped the channel for a few moments to see if there was any Ohtani coverage. Didn't see any fast food commercials.
Mid 3rd:
No fast food commercials?!
Bottom 3rd:
Smashed Jack banner ad. Still not a full commercial.
Maybe it's the time of day, but this is the longest I've watched a baseball game without a commercial for either Carl's Jr or Jack in the Box. Game has just hit the one hour mark. #AngelsBaseball
Mid 4th:
This commercial break ended a few minutes ago but I was preparing a snack. Didn't see/hear any fast food commercials.
End 4th:
Bally Sports is displaying a technical difficulties message.
Mid 5th:
First fast food commercial of the season! Jack in the Box promoting the Smashed Jack. #JackInTheBox
Another Jack in the Box commercial for the Smashed Jack. #JackInTheBox
End 5th:
Didn't see any fast food commercials but I flipped the channel to see if Ohtani was doing anything in the dugout.
Mid 6th:
I missed this entire commercial break to watch Ohtani bat. I'm hoping something interesting happens in this Angels game.
Bottom 6th: Pitching change
No fast food commercials.
End 6th:
No fast food commercials seen
Mid 7th:
No fast food commercials but plenty of commercials during this game for InventHelp and another reaching out to Medicare holders with diabetes.
Changed the channel to see how close Ohtani was to batting again and was greeted by a Carl's Jr commercial. Still haven't seen a Carl's Jr commercial on Bally Sports yet.
Bottom 7th:
No fast food commercials
Mid 8th:
No fast food commercials
End 8th:
No fast food commercials
And that wraps up today's Angels game. I only saw two Jack in the Box commercials on Bally Sports today. Last season it felt like they were showing commercials nearly every commercial break.