9. The major league owners attempted to curtail radio broadcasts of games
Westinghouse continued to broadcast World Series games until 1927, when CBS and NBC took over. Though the broadcasts were popular with baseball fans across the country, they were not popular with club owners. Nor did businesses support them entirely. They provided advertising revenues for radio stations and outlets for businesses. But the afternoon broadcasts also distracted workers from their jobs. During the 1920s and well into the 1930s baseball club owners had differing views regarding radio. Some, including all three of the New York teams, took the position that fans would listen to the games offered for free on the radio rather than purchase tickets to watch them in ballparks. Others, such as William Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, believed the power of radio would expand his fanbase beyond Chicago. Radio stations in Chicago could broadcast Cubs games for free, without paying the club for the privilege.
In 1932 the New York Yankees joined with the Giants and Dodgers and banned radio broadcasting from their respective ballparks. After the ban, when visiting teams came to town the game could not be broadcast to their home city. In 1936 Commissioner Landis landed the first contract to broadcast the World Series nationally, with the three major networks (CBS, NBC, and Blue) all participating. As radios decreased in size and cost their popularity exploded, and by the late 1930s they were ubiquitous, found in car dashboards and barber shops, bars and restaurants, in private homes and in businesses. During the World Series, which could last from a week to a fortnight, all three networks broadcast the games. The game could be heard nearly everywhere, indeed it was difficult to avoid.