Petition demands that NBC Sports Philadelphia “Make Jhoan Duran’s Entrance Televised”

Jhoan Durán’s entrance is one of the sickest moments in all of baseball. The fire, the lights, the spider visuals, it’s a full-blown adrenaline shot straight to your veins.

If you’re at Citizens Bank Park, you know the goosebumps are real. But if you’re watching from your couch? Good luck, because NBC Sports Philadelphia keeps cutting to commercials like it’s just another mid-inning break.

Make Jhoan Duran’s Entrance Televised

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Phillies fans want NBC Sports Philly to stop cutting away from Jhoan Duran’s entrance

That nonsense has gone on long enough, and Phillies fans have had it. Somebody finally started a petition titled “Make Jhoan Durán’s Entrance Televised.” As of Thursday morning, it’s already racked up 300 signatures and counting.

Here’s the entire pitch from the fans behind it:

“We, the fans, are asking NBC Sports Philadelphia to never cut to commercial when Phillies closer Jhoan Durán enters the game. His entrance, complete with fire, lights, and the spider visuals, is one of the most electric moments in baseball. It deserves to be shown in full every time, so fans at home can experience the same goosebumps as those in the ballpark.”

Trust me, I understand the frustration and fully support the petition.

There’s not a show in the Tri-State Area that’s better than Jhoan Duran’s entrance at Citizens Bank Park and literally no one has ever said “I’m looking forward to the next commercial break” ahead of the ninth inning of a close game where the best closer in baseball is making an entrance.

It’s no doubt a bad look to have a Geico ad that we have already seen one million times during the first eight innings of the game running while Duran is lighting The Bank on fire with an electric entrance to seal a Phillies win.

Taking away that shot of adrenaline has people upset and it shouldn’t happen down the stretch. The Phillies are the vibe-heavy attraction here in Philly. When they are playing good baseball and Jhoan Duran is performing like he is right now, the broadcast has to absolutely roll with the entrance. They really don’t even have a choice.

We’re dealing with a production issue:

Now, to be fair, TV people will tell you that Duran’s intro runs about 35-40 seconds, then he’s throwing warmups for another 90. That creates a production issue: do you sit there while nothing happens, or squeeze in a couple commercials anyway? At some point, you’ve got to balance the ad dollars with the fact that fans just want to see the show.

Some fans suggested a sponsor for the entrance like Toyota’s “Rav 4th inning,” but for Duran. The only snag is whether MLB’s licensing rules would even allow it, especially with the music rights involved.

Still, if it means we actually get to see the full entrance without a cutaway to insurance ads, most fans would sign on in a heartbeat.

The only real risk is overdoing it.

I think I’m on this side of the issue. I don’t want the Phillies to run it every night. Last night, they 100% should have given the upgrades made to the entrance.

Outside of that, I really don’t want to see it until Red October. I get that fans love it. How could anyone not love it? I just don’t want a Timmy Trumpet/Edwin Díaz situation where it becomes a little too every night.

The counter to that is the fact that Jhoan Duran isn’t coming out of the bullpen seven days a week. It’s really just two, maybe three appearances per week, which feels like the max to keep it special without jumping the shark.

Nobody cares about NBCSP’s “production logistics.”

Figure it out. Phillies fans want the full Duran entrance on TV, every time, and if NBC Sports Philadelphia and The Fightins were smart, they would figure out how to make that work.

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