America's Pastime Trying To Blow It - Again.
In the mid nineties, baseball almost died because of it's own greed-induced strike. The sport's comeback has been fueled by the excitement of watching the home run barrage of the late nineties and the explosive growth of fantasy / rotisserie baseball. The individual greed of players, in the form of cheating through steroid use, has ruined the joy of the home run era. Now the collective greed of Major League Baseball may wreck the sport for good.
Baseball highlight shows, websites, newsletters, and websites have benefitted from the need for fantasy managers to consume up to the minute data about their fantasy league. Major League Baseball wants to make sure they control - and profit from - the fantasy activity, and will likely make it something the casual fan will give up on. These guys are killing the golden goose. This can not be pinned on Barry Bonds.
Baseball highlight shows, websites, newsletters, and websites have benefitted from the need for fantasy managers to consume up to the minute data about their fantasy league. Major League Baseball wants to make sure they control - and profit from - the fantasy activity, and will likely make it something the casual fan will give up on. These guys are killing the golden goose. This can not be pinned on Barry Bonds.
posted by Steve at 5/16/2006 05:05:00 PM
4 Comments:
I'm starting a fantasy T ball league. $1000 a team. You in?
Can you loan me $990?
Baseball after the strike and the beginning of the internet revolution used to offer every, EVERY baseball game for free. You would be able to find the station the team was associated with and listen to the game at work for free. It was a great way to spend the remainder of the afternoon while working.
Then baseball reviewed the situation and noticed they had the rights to each baseball game. They began to charge a minimal fee of I think 5 dollars. It was to test the market and see if people would respond to this new income stream. Well the baseball aficionado got screwed because in your mind you said what’s 5 bucks. Now that was the push to open the monster on a whole new ball game. In a capitalistic society you look for revenue streams in any corner and you can’t blame baseball for exploiting that fact. Baseball’s number on goal is to generate a profit. If baseball does not make a profit then there is no major league baseball.
Now baseball charges the following:
$14.95 for radio.
$79.95 for MLB.TV for every game.
$179.00 for MLB Extra Innings.
The problem I have is there has to be something more than GREED. The owners are GREEDY & the Players are GREEDY. It’s the demise in all sports across the board. It happen even in the 2006 Olympics with United State teams. Comprised of pro athletes worried about marketing themselves, then truly putting in the amount of time to win the event.
So am I surprised by the push to charge fantasy baseball, No! It’s another revenue stream in a world of sports that you can tap into. The days of for the love of the game are gone and now you understand in each era the day before is what everyone longs for.
The one way to stop it, stop watching, stop buying that jersey & stop attending the games. Once the fan notices all the revenue streams that are associated with the game you would be amazed. But without the customer, there is no high priced salaries or greedy owners. If the fan leaves the game then there is no more game to promote.
One day the Fan just might understand the power it really has.
From Friday's New York Post:
Richard Siegelman, a retired teacher from Plainview, L.I., is our candidate for Baseball Fan of the Year.
Having read that Major League Baseball is trying to prevent the use of players' statistics by fantasy leagues not sanctioned by MLB, Siegelman did some calculations then sent a personal check to Bud Selig for $5.35, which he figured covered his debt for "the unauthorized use of Mickey Mantle's 1956 Triple Crown statistics."
Selig took it well. He sent the check back, adding, in a letter, that he's "delighted that you have enjoyed the baseball statistics of Mickey Mantle. I remember that 1956 season very well, myself."
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