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RE: Would expansion to 8 teams stop "the same teams winning all the time"?
(01-12-2019 11:15 PM)miko33 Wrote: (01-12-2019 10:00 AM)quo vadis Wrote: (01-12-2019 09:00 AM)bullet Wrote: (01-12-2019 08:02 AM)quo vadis Wrote: (01-08-2019 08:59 PM)miko33 Wrote: Contrast that with MLB where the large market teams can basically buy a team that can compete for the pennant and World Series trips almost annually while small market teams are lucky to compete occasionally if a number of factors line up to their benefit. You can argue that other factors tanked the popularity of MLB like the strikes - but bottom line it's no longer America's official sport and the lack of parity is a significant factor in that.
I have no idea why this myth persists. In fact, MLB revenue has risen 18 straight years, and has gone up 350% over the past 25 years, adjusted for inflation. MLB revenues have never been better, not even when it was America's undisputed dominant sport between the 1920s and 1960s. In 1960, when MLB was clearly the #1 sport, average franchise value was $33 million (in 2018 dollars), last year it was $1.3 billion.
Last year, MLB revenue topped $10.3 Billion, second only to the NFL among all global sports leagues, and more than the NBA and NHL combined:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/...73da1c5bea
What he said was absolutely true even if what you say is true. So its no myth.
Fewer people follow baseball. Attendance is down. Football is now much more popular and basketball is gaining. Basketball is more popular among younger people. College and high schools are dropping baseball programs. The number of minor league teams has dramatically declined since the 50s although not so much recently.
Money is the only measure of 'popularity' that matters, eh? I mean, what does it mean if someone responds to a poll question by saying they like basketball more than baseball, but spend more money on baseball?
Money talks, other measures of popularity walk. It makes zero sense to say baseball popularity has 'tanked' when revenues are growing. What he said is a myth.
Talk of baseball's decline in 2015
http://time.com/money/3772690/baseball-l...-interest/
Article of MLB declining attendance in 2018
https://sports.cbslocal.com/2018/05/30/t...-the-rise/
Plenty of articles can be easily found discussing younger generations losing interest in baseball. Example of one below:
http://time.com/money/3768009/baseball-p...ds-sports/
Point being - your view of MLB is extremely short sighted. Increases in revenue is great; however, it won't last forever if the fan base is getting older and whiter. When you look at MLB in closer detail, the revenue increases primarily point to the fact that the sport has gotten better at monetizing access to the sport. Correct me if I'm wrong, but baseball games have migrated from the networks to almost exclusively being on cable. I'm not a baseball fan anymore, so that may be in error.
Fun fact: I lost my interest in MLB because my team is a small market team that has normally engaged in the fireside sale around the all star break in order to cut salaries. It drives the profit margin from the "bonus checks" given to small market teams by the large market teams. So while my team's owner is pretty wealthy compared to the rest of the MLB owners - he sucks massive ass as an owner if you are a fan.
Quote:Due to Nutting's perceived tendency to put profits ahead of a competitive product on the field, he is often ranked in both the local press and nationally as one of the worst owners in sports,[3][4] earning the nickname "Bottom-Line Bob".[5][6] Despite being the 10th richest owner in MLB,[5] the Pirates have constantly been in the bottom third of payroll under his direct ownership and that of his predecessor and former business partner Kevin McClatchy when Nutting was a minority partner.[7][8] Following McClatchy turning away Dallas Mavericks owner and Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban from buying the team around the time the Nutting family was becoming majority owners,[9] Nutting has also turned down bids by Pittsburgh Penguins owners Mario Lemieux & Ron Burkle, as well as Pittsburgh Steelers minority owner Thomas Tull, insisting that the team isn't for sale.[10][7]
He has been the subject of harsh criticism due to trades made in the 2017-2018 offseason, moving pitcher Gerrit Cole to the Houston Astros, and center-fielder Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants in an apparent fire sale. Following the two trades, Pirates fans began signing a petition on Change.org forcing Nutting to sell the team to someone who would make the team more competitive.[11] The trades, along with similar trades made that offseason by the Miami Marlins, has led to the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to investigate both teams on whether or not they are using their revenue sharing funds to improve the team's on-field performance, as required in the current collective bargaining agreement.[12] On February 23, 2018, MLBPA filed a formal grievance against the Pirates, Marlins, Oakland Athletics, and Tampa Bay Rays over the teams use of revenue sharing funds, which MLB responded that the claims had "no merit"; the grievance will be heard by an independent arbitrator.[13]
On February 1, 2018, it was reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Weirton Medical Center, a major advertiser for three of Nutting's papers (Weirton Daily Times in Weirton, West Virginia, Herald-Star in Steubenville, Ohio, and The Review in East Liverpool, Ohio), were pulling its ads from the papers over “the failure of the Pirates to craft a deal to keep Andrew McCutchen a Pirate.”[14]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nutting
IMHO, MLB sucks. Many owners of smaller market teams are either incapable of competing or refusing to compete (Pirates for example) against larger market teams. The kids are losing interest in baseball. People are sick of being nickel and dimed over everything related to MLB (though revenues are up...lol).
IDK - either your opinion on MLB is overly simplistic by design or you're genuinely ignorant is up for debate. Respectfully meant.
My interest faded with the strike that cancelled the World Series. And I was mostly a fan of another small market team, the Reds, that with the Pirates, dominated the 70s. Baseball used to be my favorite spectator sport.
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