Baseball Needs to Look at the Bigger Picture

I’ve been pretty quiet about baseball this off season and I’m really sad about it. Instead of studying prospects, analyzing transactions, and projecting the up coming season, I’m listening to new music, reading more, and catching up on TV and movies. And it’s because millionaires are fighting with billionaires.

I’m a little bitter about it. I’m not the guy to complain that players make their money playing a kids game. They have more athletic talent than I could imagine. They work hard and they put a lot of stress on their bodies. They are entitled to make money off their God-given abilities; it’s just seeing a guy getting $40M a season pull up to negotiations in his Porsche and then complaining about how much the owners are making rubs me the wrong way.

The owners are no better. They will say that they lost money during the pandemic, but so did millions of regular people too. The Rickett’s family has been complaining about the amount of money they’ve lost with the Cubs, but are still able to make a potentially $3.3B offer for Chelsea FC. Doesn’t it sound like they’ve lost a lot?

Both sides need to step back and look at the bigger picture. To take my family of 5 to a Cardinals game, I’m looking at $125 for tickets alone. We have to pay for parking downtown, so even if we walk a mile, we’re looking at $10. If we eat at the game, there’s another $60 minimum, and that doesn’t include a $12 beer for me. Some people like to get souvenirs for their kids; there’s another $60 minimum. I’m looking at $267 for a trip to Busch. That’s a little steep for me, but doable; there are a lot of families where it’s not an option.

So, let’s hit the teams where it hurts and not go to games this year. Great idea, but teams don’t rely on ticket sales at this point; they make their money off TV deals. The Cardinals signed a 15-years, $1B contract with Fox Sports Midwest (now Bally’s Sports Midwest) along with a 30% stake in the network. They also get money from the national TV-deal, but those figures aren’t public.

While a portion of fans will boycott the teams, there are still the diehards that will go, and those who will travel to other cities that will still go to games. Team will still sell licensed items (shirts, hats, etc) and get money from league licensed merchandise.

How about MLB and the MLBPA step back and see how they can help us?

Set a salary cap that is still fair to players, a salary floor that makes teams spend, and require that ticket prices and the game day experience cost goes down for casual fans. Not only will that help people come to games more often, it might just help the next generation of baseball fan into the game. It might help more African-American kids get into the game, which is something MLB has been wanting for a while.

Why not invest more in the minor leagues? That’s the near term future of the game and these guys scrape by on nothing. We might lose the next Justin Turner (once a low level prospect that eventually broke out) because they can’t make a living in the low minors. Teach the players about proper nutrition, how to invest their money, and make the game more of a lifestyle that they can maintain.

None of this will happen because both sides feel slighted by the other while it’s the fan that is really feeling the wraith of their greed. So this season, watch college baseball (most games are on ESPN+) or go to a minor league game. Help the players that need the support.