An ESPN study concluded that the NFL remains the most popular league
among 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States, with 38.9 percent of
respondents naming it their favorite. The NBA was next at 30.1 percent,
surpassing NCAA football at 27.5 percent. Next were college basketball
at 23.8 percent, the MLB and Major League Soccer at 18.0 percent, and
the National Hockey League at 8.9 percent.
Selig's legacy may be
that he lost the next generation of baseball fans. This is Selig's last
World Series. Perhaps nothing demonstrates how baseball has turned off
young sports fans than how young sports fans have turned off the World
Series.
Television ratings were up for last year's World Series. And so was the
age of the viewers who watched it. The average age of those who watched
the series was nearly 54, which is believed to be the oldest in history.
On the other hand, only 4.1 percent of children between the ages
of 6-17 watched the series, the Nielsen media research firm reported.
One criticism of Bud Selig's reign as commissioner is that baseball has lost the next generation of fans. The games are too expensive for a family of four. Teams charge fans for everything, including signing up their children in a team fan club. The games are too long to hold the attention span of more technology astute kids who now have iPads, iPhones and hundred cable channels to explore.
Selig's tenure will be marked by the rise of the massive television contracts, and the huge increase in team values to owners. However, many believe that this is the high water mark of the sport. The television deals will fall due to the new distribution model emerging in the mobile digital age. With the major influx of international players, many young kids do not identify with their local players. And if the kids aren't playing the game with friends, they will have little interest in practicing their favorite ball player's batting stance.
What will be left for baseball: the statistical data farm for fantasy leagues? You don't need to watch games to play fantasy baseball.
There may be a tread of truth in the fact that baseball is as American as apple pie and Chevrolets, but America is not the America of 1950. Its demographics have changed significantly. It's culture embodied in the American Dream has stalled after the financial crisis. And there is no guarantee that any sport will continue to receive widespread, national support. A prime example is professional boxing. It used to be the king of spectator sports, with international superstars like Muhammad Ali. But today, hardly anyone knows who is the heavyweight champion.
Showing posts with label Selig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Selig. Show all posts
October 25, 2014
August 16, 2013
MODEL FRANCHISE
The Tampa Bay Rays have been a successful small market team playing in the worst multipurpose stadium. Ownership has been trying to get a new public stadium deal for a long time. Talks between the sides has stalled, and commissioner Bud Selig is not happy about it.
But the Rays are stuck with a current lease that runs through 2027. The Rays have a hard time drawing fans and have the increasing expense of upkeeping a stadium built in 1990.
At the recent owners meeting Selig said he is considering assigning someone from his office to become directly involved with the negotiations to build a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The problem is that the city of St. Petersburg, the landlord for Tropicana Field, does not want to spend millions of dollars on a new stadium for a single purpose tenant like the Rays. And the city does not have to because it has an ironclad lease, and the threat of litigation if any other local city wants to try to lure the Rays to their town.
Every city in America should be skittish about funding new professional sports stadiums. The Miami Marlins got a sweetheart deal for their new digs, complete with all the new revenue streams owners salivate for, but the taxpayers got burned - - - and the team imploded into futility.
The Rays are a better run franchise. The Rays, with the fourth-best record in the American League at 67-51, are last in AL home attendance and next to last among the 30 Major League teams, averaging 18,330 per game through their first 60 home games. That is a consistent problem throughout Florida: professional sports teams do not draw well, and not includes the championship Miami Heat.
But MLB puffs out its chest to help strong arm a new, favorable deal for its team owners. MLB believes that there is some god-given right for professional sports teams to have taxpayer paid first class facilities for their private business enterprise. There have been numerous economic studies done in regard to the impact of publicly financed stadiums in U.S. cities. The common result and finding is that taxpayers do not reap any benefits from these deals, while the pro sports teams have a major windfall.
When baseball was struggling after the last strike, there were calls against expansion. There was even talk of contraction (the elimination of teams). Ownership solved the small market problem by instituting revenue sharing, luxury taxes on large payroll teams, and league loan programs. But at some point, even small market teams have to make it on their own.
The Rays may be a model franchise in quality drafting, excellent development of talent, and keen trades of players too expensive to keep in exchange for more promising prospects. The Rays are competitive in the most competitive division in baseball, the AL East. But the road to a new, ownership friendly baseball stadium is going to be harder than beating the Yankees or Red Sox.
But the Rays are stuck with a current lease that runs through 2027. The Rays have a hard time drawing fans and have the increasing expense of upkeeping a stadium built in 1990.
At the recent owners meeting Selig said he is considering assigning someone from his office to become directly involved with the negotiations to build a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The problem is that the city of St. Petersburg, the landlord for Tropicana Field, does not want to spend millions of dollars on a new stadium for a single purpose tenant like the Rays. And the city does not have to because it has an ironclad lease, and the threat of litigation if any other local city wants to try to lure the Rays to their town.
Every city in America should be skittish about funding new professional sports stadiums. The Miami Marlins got a sweetheart deal for their new digs, complete with all the new revenue streams owners salivate for, but the taxpayers got burned - - - and the team imploded into futility.
The Rays are a better run franchise. The Rays, with the fourth-best record in the American League at 67-51, are last in AL home attendance and next to last among the 30 Major League teams, averaging 18,330 per game through their first 60 home games. That is a consistent problem throughout Florida: professional sports teams do not draw well, and not includes the championship Miami Heat.
But MLB puffs out its chest to help strong arm a new, favorable deal for its team owners. MLB believes that there is some god-given right for professional sports teams to have taxpayer paid first class facilities for their private business enterprise. There have been numerous economic studies done in regard to the impact of publicly financed stadiums in U.S. cities. The common result and finding is that taxpayers do not reap any benefits from these deals, while the pro sports teams have a major windfall.
When baseball was struggling after the last strike, there were calls against expansion. There was even talk of contraction (the elimination of teams). Ownership solved the small market problem by instituting revenue sharing, luxury taxes on large payroll teams, and league loan programs. But at some point, even small market teams have to make it on their own.
The Rays may be a model franchise in quality drafting, excellent development of talent, and keen trades of players too expensive to keep in exchange for more promising prospects. The Rays are competitive in the most competitive division in baseball, the AL East. But the road to a new, ownership friendly baseball stadium is going to be harder than beating the Yankees or Red Sox.
August 5, 2013
DRUG SCANDAL FALL OUT
Major league baseball is supposed to announce numerous suspensions today. Yankees Alex Rodriguez is expected to be hit with a very long suspension (to a possible life time ban). A-Rod has vowed an appeal. The Yankees hope he will just go away.
The fall out of the drug suspensions will affect several pennant races. But this round of discipline is different because of one critical change in the baseball landscape: the players union told its members it will not defend players caught with PEDs. It is apparent that union leadership has heard a growing roar from players not taking PEDs that enough is enough. The drug cheaters are ruining the reputation of non-cheaters.
The reason why players take PEDs is simple: money. A minor league baseball player may make thousands of dollars. A player who makes it to the majors can make millions of dollars. If a player is in the top tier of the majors he can make hundreds of millions of dollars. Each step can raise one's economic circumstances by ten fold.
So there is a great temptation for players to use anything edge in order to perform at peak levels, even if the substance is banned by the league. But an entire underground business of creating designer drugs and beating drug tests has flourished for decades. This illegal operation has been funded by star athletes who want to get their edge and maintain it.
Bud Selig wants to have the legacy of cleaning up his sport. That is why the Rodriguez case was investigated by means of dubious league conduct. It has been alleged that the MLB purchased player medical records (which would have been a violation of federal and state privacy laws). It has been alleged that the league has sued and indemnified seedy operatives in these drug circles in order to get information. All these sleazy investigative techniques would run afoul of criminal laws, but MLB is not a government agency so state criminal laws do not apply. Just as the players thought the means justified the results, so did major league baseball investigators.
So any arbitration appeal will get messy. Major league baseball does not have clean hands in the matter. After the strike, it was the McGwire-Sosa home run record circus that got fans back into the stands. Since then baseball has prospered and ownership has made billions in dollars.
Some may consider a player from a poor family who will lose all salary for a suspension of 50 to 100 games unreasonable. But that is all part of the CBA and major league charter. Ignorance is no defense under the PED test program.
Many believe that the teams of suspended players do not have any accountability in the scandal. The only detriment is that the team will lose a star player for a long period of time. But the team can replace him on the roster. It get the payroll benefit of no salary obligations to the suspended player. But one must realize that everyone including the commissioner and the players work for the team owners. So within the realm of the baseball world, owners set most of the rules for their benefit.
But there is something else that is driving ownership to clean up the game. Congress came down hard on the league during the steroid era. America's pastime of taking steroids to improve performance had trickled down from pros to college and high school athletes. The alarm was that baseball had to clean up its own sport or Congress would. No sane person would want Congress to run their business, let alone walk their dog.
And there is another unmentioned issue that could adversely impact ownership during these drug scandals. If their employees (trainers, coaches, etc.) are enablers who help players juice then the federal prosecutors could try to make the case that the teams were running illegal criminal enterprises (the distribution and sale of illegal controlled substances) and under the RICO laws, owners could be subject to penalty forfeiture of the criminal enterprise . . . i.e. their franchises. No one has brought up in public this nuclear fall out event. But baseball's aggressive stance during this latest scandal has to have been made because of a far worse fate on the horizon.
In order for everyone to be accountable for illegal cheating, teams included, some have proposed that if a player is suspended for PED use, the team could not replace him on the 25 man roster. As a result, the team would suddenly be at a competitive disadvantage. Clean players would then have a personal stake in making sure the clubhouse is clean. Now, critics will say that will upset team chemistry. It will make teammates informants. But there is probably a majority of current players who do not want cheaters in the game so it really should not create that much conflict on teams. Teams would have to police their squads more thoroughly in order to maintain a competitive team to keep fan support via ticket sales. Instead of pocketing the saved salary from a suspended player, a team could have forfeit that money back into the league's drug prevention programs. Also, the teams would still have to carry the unpaid salary on the luxury cap spending books.
Baseball has taken the Biogenesis matter to the aggressive cliff of contractual accountability. But there is something that the national media has failed to catch. The clinic did not specialize in just baseball players. There are probably players from other major sports in those records. However, other sports such as football, soccer, etc. have had no indication that they would aggressively pursue any independent investigation of the clinic customers. These other sports would rather hide under a pillow until a positive drug test hits than be pro-active.
And the final nail in this coffin is the federal criminal investigation into Biogenesis. Investigators will comb through the clinic records, find out which athletes were customers, and try to trace the drug distribution network so it can be shut down. Again, the feds primary focus is to take down drug dealers and not users. But it a user interferes or obstructs an investigation, the government will go after the athlete hard (like in the Bonds case).
Selig may try to make the ultimate statement with a lifetime ban for A-Rod if it can be proven that Rodriguez interfered with baseball's investigation, destroyed records, lied to investigators, or tampered with witnesses. Baseball lifetime bans are not new. Pete Rose was banned for life because he violated the cardinal sin of the game: gambling on baseball. Selig is at the same crossroad today.
The fall out of the drug suspensions will affect several pennant races. But this round of discipline is different because of one critical change in the baseball landscape: the players union told its members it will not defend players caught with PEDs. It is apparent that union leadership has heard a growing roar from players not taking PEDs that enough is enough. The drug cheaters are ruining the reputation of non-cheaters.
The reason why players take PEDs is simple: money. A minor league baseball player may make thousands of dollars. A player who makes it to the majors can make millions of dollars. If a player is in the top tier of the majors he can make hundreds of millions of dollars. Each step can raise one's economic circumstances by ten fold.
So there is a great temptation for players to use anything edge in order to perform at peak levels, even if the substance is banned by the league. But an entire underground business of creating designer drugs and beating drug tests has flourished for decades. This illegal operation has been funded by star athletes who want to get their edge and maintain it.
Bud Selig wants to have the legacy of cleaning up his sport. That is why the Rodriguez case was investigated by means of dubious league conduct. It has been alleged that the MLB purchased player medical records (which would have been a violation of federal and state privacy laws). It has been alleged that the league has sued and indemnified seedy operatives in these drug circles in order to get information. All these sleazy investigative techniques would run afoul of criminal laws, but MLB is not a government agency so state criminal laws do not apply. Just as the players thought the means justified the results, so did major league baseball investigators.
So any arbitration appeal will get messy. Major league baseball does not have clean hands in the matter. After the strike, it was the McGwire-Sosa home run record circus that got fans back into the stands. Since then baseball has prospered and ownership has made billions in dollars.
Some may consider a player from a poor family who will lose all salary for a suspension of 50 to 100 games unreasonable. But that is all part of the CBA and major league charter. Ignorance is no defense under the PED test program.
Many believe that the teams of suspended players do not have any accountability in the scandal. The only detriment is that the team will lose a star player for a long period of time. But the team can replace him on the roster. It get the payroll benefit of no salary obligations to the suspended player. But one must realize that everyone including the commissioner and the players work for the team owners. So within the realm of the baseball world, owners set most of the rules for their benefit.
But there is something else that is driving ownership to clean up the game. Congress came down hard on the league during the steroid era. America's pastime of taking steroids to improve performance had trickled down from pros to college and high school athletes. The alarm was that baseball had to clean up its own sport or Congress would. No sane person would want Congress to run their business, let alone walk their dog.
And there is another unmentioned issue that could adversely impact ownership during these drug scandals. If their employees (trainers, coaches, etc.) are enablers who help players juice then the federal prosecutors could try to make the case that the teams were running illegal criminal enterprises (the distribution and sale of illegal controlled substances) and under the RICO laws, owners could be subject to penalty forfeiture of the criminal enterprise . . . i.e. their franchises. No one has brought up in public this nuclear fall out event. But baseball's aggressive stance during this latest scandal has to have been made because of a far worse fate on the horizon.
In order for everyone to be accountable for illegal cheating, teams included, some have proposed that if a player is suspended for PED use, the team could not replace him on the 25 man roster. As a result, the team would suddenly be at a competitive disadvantage. Clean players would then have a personal stake in making sure the clubhouse is clean. Now, critics will say that will upset team chemistry. It will make teammates informants. But there is probably a majority of current players who do not want cheaters in the game so it really should not create that much conflict on teams. Teams would have to police their squads more thoroughly in order to maintain a competitive team to keep fan support via ticket sales. Instead of pocketing the saved salary from a suspended player, a team could have forfeit that money back into the league's drug prevention programs. Also, the teams would still have to carry the unpaid salary on the luxury cap spending books.
Baseball has taken the Biogenesis matter to the aggressive cliff of contractual accountability. But there is something that the national media has failed to catch. The clinic did not specialize in just baseball players. There are probably players from other major sports in those records. However, other sports such as football, soccer, etc. have had no indication that they would aggressively pursue any independent investigation of the clinic customers. These other sports would rather hide under a pillow until a positive drug test hits than be pro-active.
And the final nail in this coffin is the federal criminal investigation into Biogenesis. Investigators will comb through the clinic records, find out which athletes were customers, and try to trace the drug distribution network so it can be shut down. Again, the feds primary focus is to take down drug dealers and not users. But it a user interferes or obstructs an investigation, the government will go after the athlete hard (like in the Bonds case).
Selig may try to make the ultimate statement with a lifetime ban for A-Rod if it can be proven that Rodriguez interfered with baseball's investigation, destroyed records, lied to investigators, or tampered with witnesses. Baseball lifetime bans are not new. Pete Rose was banned for life because he violated the cardinal sin of the game: gambling on baseball. Selig is at the same crossroad today.
July 10, 2013
BIOSHOCK
Several news organizations are reporting that there is going to be a major fall out from the Biogenesis scandal. The Florida "anti-aging" clinic has allegedly been connected to several high profile major league players. The allegations are that several MLB players connected to this clinic may have received banned performance enhancing substances.
ESPN has reported that the league may suspend approximately 20 players as a result of its investigation. An investigation which has been criticized, in part, because MLB sued the clinic's founder in order to subpoena medical records. There were also allegations that MLB may have "purchased" medical records from ex-employees, which would be in violation of federal and state health privacy laws.
The league is looking to suspend these players for 100 games, the penalty for a second offense. Many players on the suspect list have not been officially hit with a first offense conviction. MLB is trying to tag multiple violations into one charge to get the severe penalty. Everyone expects the the union and the player agent to fight the charges including litigation outside the collective bargaining agreement's drug testing policy.
The stakes are enormous. The league is still under the gun from Congress who pushed the owners to clean up their sport after the steroid era. The threat of Congressional oversight into baseball operations gives ownership the incentive to act quickly and harshly against alleged violators. On the other hand, the players are subject to 100 games without pay and tarnished reputations which will impact their income after their careers.
It would be unprecedented for the league to suspend an entire All-Star caliber roster. But that is where the sport is heading when at least 10 players have refused to answer league officials questions on this matter.
The trade deadline is only three weeks away. The timing of the proposed suspensions (and subsequent appeal hearings) can dramatically impact the divisional races and playoff series. If you are the general manager on a contending team with a player that is being tied to Biogenesis scandal, do you hedge your bets to find a quality replacement player prior to the deadline? Will that give Sellers a greater advantage this year?
The league is trying to send another message to the players that PEDs do not belong in baseball. But since the big money long term deals are all based upon high performance, players will be tempted to boost their skills by using PEDs. Many polls indicate that the fans really don't care that much about the steroid scandal. However, youth sports officials continue to worry that the PEDs in pro sports continue to work their way down through college and high school athletes, which is a dangerous, unsupervised situation.
ESPN has reported that the league may suspend approximately 20 players as a result of its investigation. An investigation which has been criticized, in part, because MLB sued the clinic's founder in order to subpoena medical records. There were also allegations that MLB may have "purchased" medical records from ex-employees, which would be in violation of federal and state health privacy laws.
The league is looking to suspend these players for 100 games, the penalty for a second offense. Many players on the suspect list have not been officially hit with a first offense conviction. MLB is trying to tag multiple violations into one charge to get the severe penalty. Everyone expects the the union and the player agent to fight the charges including litigation outside the collective bargaining agreement's drug testing policy.
The stakes are enormous. The league is still under the gun from Congress who pushed the owners to clean up their sport after the steroid era. The threat of Congressional oversight into baseball operations gives ownership the incentive to act quickly and harshly against alleged violators. On the other hand, the players are subject to 100 games without pay and tarnished reputations which will impact their income after their careers.
It would be unprecedented for the league to suspend an entire All-Star caliber roster. But that is where the sport is heading when at least 10 players have refused to answer league officials questions on this matter.
The trade deadline is only three weeks away. The timing of the proposed suspensions (and subsequent appeal hearings) can dramatically impact the divisional races and playoff series. If you are the general manager on a contending team with a player that is being tied to Biogenesis scandal, do you hedge your bets to find a quality replacement player prior to the deadline? Will that give Sellers a greater advantage this year?
The league is trying to send another message to the players that PEDs do not belong in baseball. But since the big money long term deals are all based upon high performance, players will be tempted to boost their skills by using PEDs. Many polls indicate that the fans really don't care that much about the steroid scandal. However, youth sports officials continue to worry that the PEDs in pro sports continue to work their way down through college and high school athletes, which is a dangerous, unsupervised situation.
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