[Sylvanfan]

This is essentially a gimmick round that let more teams think they made the playoffs than there used to be. They went from 4 teams per league with no playing game to a playing game with 5 teams and now it's 4 series with 8 teams involved. They don't want to push out the end of the season and this fits more teams in and adds 1-2 extra days from the old wild card game.

TV is a dying media and most of the Continent will have it start near the end of their work day. Im sure a lot of people will be streaming the game at work. Also it's a colder city with an outdoor stadium, so the late afternoon start might bring some shadows but ensures that it's during the warmer part of the day.

I do think all games could be staggered by 30 minutes and start at 7 Eastern or later and it wouldn't really change the viewership that much. Our MLB thread on this forum really does not get much traffic so chances are most won't really watch much of the other games regardless who's in them.