Why MLB is dying

[orange]

Yep, they're doin' great, alright.

Down in ratings, attendance, and net value.

Terrific.

[Basileus777]

Originally Posted by orange

Yep, they're doin' great, alright.

Down in ratings, attendance, and net value.

Terrific.

Every single sport is having issues due to the economy. Even the NFL is facing blackouts. The MLB is still better off than say the NBA.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Originally Posted by orange

Yep, they're doin' great, alright.

Down in ratings, attendance, and net value.

Terrific.

Overall, Forbes said the average value of the 30 MLB franchises increased 1 percent to an all-time high of $482 million

Looks like it says average value is at an all-time high by 1% that would mean net value is up 1% correct?

[orange]

Originally Posted by Basileus777

Every single sport is having issues due to the economy. Even the NFL is facing blackouts. The MLB is still better off than say the NBA.

Originally Posted by Kyle DeLexus

Looks like it says average value is at an all-time high by 1% that would mean net value is up 1% correct?

Look at the dates on those articles. Those numbers are from 2008. This year will be much worse.

And as the first article makes plain, the DROP in value of one third of all franchises is masked by the increase in the Yankees' and Mets values (how many years are the two New York teams going to have new stadiums?). The difference between the haves and havenots is one of MLB's biggest problems.

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Here was the pre-season outlook for 2009:

Baseball Braces for a Less Hopeful Season
The end of spring training is usually a time of unlimited possibilities for baseball players and fans. Not this year.
By Andrew C. Schneider, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

April 3, 2009

Major League Baseball will prove anything but recession proof this time around. With regular season play set to begin Sunday, the sport is looking ahead to a bleak 2009. Rising unemployment has consumers worried. They're gripping their wallets with white knuckles, ensuring that ticket and concession sales will fall this year. So will advertising revenue, both from stadium billboards and from TV and radio commercials. But even all that just scratches the surface of the teams' worries.

The industries that have been baseball's strongest benefactors in years past, banks and carmakers, are among the worst hit by the recession. Those that are accepting federal bailout funds -- or even facing bankruptcy, as in the cases of GM and Chrysler -- are being forced to slash anything that could be construed as unnecessary spending. That means abandoning leases on private boxes and suites, a huge source of revenue for the teams.

"Congress is putting a lot of pressure on companies not to be spending money on what it sees as luxuries," says Lisa Delpy Neirotti, an associate professor of tourism and sports management at George Washington University. Neirotti notes that companies use their suites as a marketing tool, as a way of luring or keeping customers. But it's a hard case for troubled firms to make, given recurring populist anger over executive compensation. "It's an image thing. People see it as a luxury perk and don't understand there's a business motivation behind it," Neirotti says.

The image problem is playing out on a much larger scale in New York. Citigroup had signed a $400-million deal with the Mets for naming rights to the team's new stadium. Citi Field, the replacement for now-demolished Shea Stadium, will host the Mets' first home game of the season April 13. But the troubled financial services giant is seeking an exit from its stadium marquee pact. If Citigroup manages to get out of its contract, other ballpark sponsors may follow suit.

Baseball has a buffer, thanks to the organization's long-term broadcasting contracts. That will help smaller market teams, which benefit from revenue sharing agreements with richer franchises, particularly the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the teams are also locked into multiyear contracts with players. That's no problem as long as the player continues to perform, but it becomes a liability if he's injured or if his playing erodes as he ages.

The free agent market provides a window on team owners' concerns. Back in December, the Yankees signed multiyear contracts with three free agents: Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett for a cumulative $423.5 million. But those signings proved the exceptions in an otherwise dreary off season.

"Something like 100 free agents were unsigned a week before spring training began. That's a record by a large margin," says Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College. "Teams are being cautious because of expectations of low revenues and owners being clobbered by [losses on] other investments."

State and municipal governments are deep in the red and can provide no assistance to franchises seeking new stadiums or to renovate their current homes.

Teams will offer discounts to keep the fans from drifting away. The San Diego Padres and concessionaire partner Delaware North are offering fans at PETCO Park a deal of five concession items for $5. A single game ticket for the mezzanine level of Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park runs for $22, but for another $8, Reds fans get all they can eat. The Baltimore Orioles are offering fans who sign up on the team's Web site a free ticket on their birthday. The Orioles are also partnering with Chick-fil-A to offer a package of tickets to 10 games for $17 to children 14 and under.

A few teams, including the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, are shunning such discounts, counting on large, loyal fan bases to carry them through the hard times. But most franchises will have no choice. Indeed, by midyear, lower attendance will force some teams to slash ticket prices.

For franchises already in trouble, this year or next could break them, forcing them to uproot and move to a new city in search of larger ticket sales. Teams that have only recently relocated, such as the Washington Nationals, will be given more time to get their bearings. But more storied franchises showing weak returns are at high risk. Among the most troubled teams are the Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by orange

Yep, they're doin' great, alright.

Down in ratings, attendance, and net value.

Terrific.

Boo-hoo-hoo. Baseball is down 1.1% across the board during a recession.

That's extremely disingenuous as you're trying to make it seem like baseball is quote "dying" due to other reasons without providing those reasons.

I guarantee that ticket sales and attendance will be down far more than 1.1% in the NFL this season.

This is a dumb thread.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Boo-hoo-hoo. Baseball is down 1.1% across the board during a recession.

That's extremely disingenuous as you're trying to make it seem like baseball is quote "dying" due to other reasons without providing those reasons.

I guarantee that ticket sales and attendance will be down far more than 1.1% in the NFL this season.

This is a dumb thread.

Baseball is probably not dying.

However it says something about the popoularity of the sport, or lack thereof, when the NFL Hall of Fame game gets a higher TV rating than the Yankee/Red Sox Sunday night game that was aired at the same time.

And that rating was almost double.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by milkman

Baseball is probably not dying.

However it says something about the popoularity of the sport, or lack thereof, when the NFL Hall of Fame game gets a higher TV rating than the Yankee/Red Sox Sunday night game that was aired at the same time.

And that rating was almost double.

The Hall of Fame game was something of a 'return' of the NFL.

Yankees/Sox was just another incredibly hyped late-summer baseball game. Most people are just a little tired of Yankees/Sawx.

There are 10 times the number of baseball games played, it's no surprise at all that any one of those games, especially in the late summer, would get a lower rating than an NFL game, even a pre-season one. When you consider the regional nature of baseball as opposed to the national nature of football, it makes even more sense.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The Hall of Fame game was something of a 'return' of the NFL.

Yankees/Sox was just another incredibly hyped late-summer baseball game. Most people are just a little tired of Yankees/Sawx.

There are 10 times the number of baseball games played, it's no surprise at all that any one of those games, especially in the late summer, would get a lower rating than an NFL game, even a pre-season one. When you consider the regional nature of baseball as opposed to the national nature of football, it makes even more sense.

Regardless of hype, the fact remains, the Yankees/Red Sox had divisional and playoff implications at the time, and the Hall of Fame game, "return to football" not withstanding, is still a meaningless exhibition.

Baseball may not be dying.

It, however, has no where near the popularity that it had 20 years ago.

Interest in baseball has been waning for well over a decade.