Tag: business

Dodgers beat the Yankees!… in attendance

2009 can be known as the year that the Dodgers toppled the Yankees… at least in attendance figures. 

For the first time in six years, the Yankees didn’t lead the majors in total yearly attendance.  They came in second.  The top honor goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers who had 3,761,661 go through the turnstiles at Dodger Stadium.

Number 3 shouldn’t be a big surprise.  Given their World Championship status and relatively large market, the Philadelphia Phillies grabbed that spot.

As for Chicago teams. the Cubs ranked sixth and the White Sox came in sixteenth in 2009.

Overall, Major League Baseball had a slight downturn in attendance from 2008 (6.6% less according to MLB.com) but with an attendance of 73,418,479, MLB is spinning it that this year is the fifth most attended year all time.  Yay, Baseball.

For those attendance stat geeks, The Biz of Baseball does a good job of breaking it all down for us.  Their pdf looking back at this past decade of MLB attendance team-by-team is quite detailed.

Nationals will charge you less to watch them lose in 2010

With the season they had, this had to be coming.  The Washington Nationals have lowered their ticket prices for many of their seats. 

Here’s President Stan Kasten with the spin:

The Nationals are committed to providing a top-notch, affordable, fan experience for all guests.  We are pleased to lower prices on over 3,300 seats, including over 2,000 in the lower bowl, and will continue to offer season ticket plans for as little as $10 per game. We thank our fans for their continued support of the Washington Nationals as we continue to build towards a winning ballclub in the Nation’s Capital.”

More details at The Biz of Baseball

70 years of televised baseball and we’re still fighting for the remote

old TV

Last week was the 70th anniversary of the first televised professional baseball game in major league history.  On August 26th, 1939, it was a doubleheader that took place in Brooklyn between the Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds (the very first televised baseball game was a game between Princeton and Columbia held at Bakers Field).. 

There was nothing particularly outstanding about the games themselves though the Reds did manage a 5 run inning in the first game to make a comeback making the final score 5-2.  Dem Bums made it a split by scoring a quick six runs in the first three innings and never looked back winning the second game 6-1.

While the implications of televising this game most definitely had far-reaching effects, I’m sure those at the time may have had their doubts.  There were only about 400 television sets in the New York that could take advantage of this this new technology.  The quality of the picture was very grainy and snowy. 

But the picture quality eventually improved over years, taking away the mystique of the commentaries from the radio broadcasters and showing EXACTLY what was happening on the ball field.  And with the continued development of televised baseball broadcasting, Major League Baseball owners saw with delight the revenue streams that could be exploited with it.  Soon after with sports media networks such as ESPN, came to the same conclusion. 

Fast forward through 70 years of development, both from a technological and business sense and in the last 10 years, we see Major League Baseball going through a new revolution in content delivery.  We now have High-Definition television taking the picture quality to a higher level. 

But we also see MLB content delivery taking a different turn away from conventional television.  We no longer need to switch on the remote to follow your favorite team.  In 2000, MLB created a new branch, the Major League Baseball Advanced Media, to meet this need.  Generally speaking, the MLBAM is charged with content delivery of baseball on the internet as well as any interactive media.  Because of MLBAM, fans can view baseball games on streaming video over our computer and recently, even our smartphones.

Orville and Wilbur Wright probably never envisioned NASA when they were successful in their first flight at Kitty Hawk.  Nor did those responsible for televising the very first game 70 years ago envision the state of baseball viewing today.

MLB shilling for Dunkin Donuts

Oh, the interesting things I get in my inbox when I’m signed up for mlb.com’s Cubs email list.

dd

Today, in MLB’s ongoing effort to justify their bottom line, I got an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts disguised as a contest.  “Win Coffee for a Year!” they claim.  But yeah, the fine print says you gotta sign up for their annoying DD Perks which no doubt means you give them all your personal information first.

The gist of it all is that nothing baseball related coming from this email.  Unless their giving the hint that folks should be drinking more coffee at games and less beer.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain.  It’s better than getting another email and hearing that the Cubs lost to the Nationals once again. 

Baseball shortened seasons

When comparing baseball stats between seasons, I sometimes catch myself when I come across a stat from maybe 1994 or perhaps 1981.  Then one second before I realize “Oh yeah, the strike-shortened year” or whatever. 

So for my own edification then anything, here are the list of baseball seasons that were shortened by labor strikes, lockouts, or whatever reason and the number of actual games played that season.

Disclaimer:  The amount of games played indicated are approximate figures.  Obviously in the cases of mid-season interruptions, some teams played more, some less.

 

1918

129 games played

The season was shortened due to World War I.

 

1919

140 games played

Team owners decided to shorten the season to 140 games in 1919 in anticipation of low attendance (because of WWI in the previous years).  Attendance actually surprised them and was high and they turned a profit.

 

1972

156 games played

Due to the 1972 Major League Baseball Strike.

 

1981

111 games played

Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball Strike.

 

1994

117 games played

Due to the 1994 Major League Baseball Strike.

 

1995

144 games played

 

The 1995 season was abbreviated to 144 games because of the strike the previous year.

 

 

Also note that in the years 1901-1903 in both leagues, the seasons only consisted of 140 games. 

Upper Deck shut out from Baseball card market

Wow, the baseball card business is dog eat dog. 

In a blow to Upper Deck and other competitors, MLB has signed a multi-year deal with The Topps Company to become the exclusive trading card maker for baseball.   The former CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner, is heading up Topps now.

This is the business double-speak that Eisner is spewing:

“This is redirecting the entire category toward kids.  Topps has been making cards for 60 years, the last 30 in a nonexclusive world that has caused confusion to the kid who walks into a Walmart or a hobby store. It’s also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original.”

Okay, did he really say that? Kids are “confused” because of a little market competition?

This deal leaves competitor trading card company Upper Deck out in the cold.  The upshot is this:  Upper Deck is allowed to use the “likeness of players” but no team logos and no trademarks. 

It’s an obvious coup for Topps that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Yahoo suit of NFL Players Association has MLB roots

yahoofootball

Yahoo Inc is in the process of suing the NFL Players Association basically saying it doesn’t have to pay royalties for stats, photos and other NFL data related to its online fantasy game.  Yahoo claims that this data is already publically available. 

Why is this relevant to baseball fans (other than the obvious fantasy league angle)?  It’s this.  The MLB Players Association and MLB Advanced Media lost a case very similar to this in 2007 when an online fantasy baseball called CDC Distribution Marketing Inc didn’t have to pay the baseball players for data very similar in the Yahoo case (stats, photos, etc). 

Yahoo is clinging to a court decision between CBS Interactive and the NFL Players Inc which claims it doesn’t need authorization.  And apparently, that decision based a lot of their ruling on the 2007 MLB decision.

Copyright and freedom of information issues are always tough.  How people come down on them usually depends on how it affects them (i.e the most positive outcome possible).  That goes for fans, too.

What do you think?  Are stats public information?  How about a photo of a baseball player? 

MLB All-Star game revenues up

 

Looks like MLB will be making a buck or two during the All-Star break:

Ticket prices are setting records. The most expensive face-value seat for Tuesday’s contest is $725 – more than twice as pricey as the top ticket in San Francisco last year and nearly triple the 2006 benchmark of $250, when the game was played in Pittsburgh.

And as more and more non-game events are added, so does their revenue increase. 

Even the non-game events are drawing New York prices. The cheapest face-value seat for the State Farm Home Run Derby on July 14 is three figures, which is akin to paying $100 to watch batting practice on steroids. The All-Star Fanfest at the Javits Center is predicted to draw records crowds despite a $30 ticket price for adults and $25 for children.

I miss the old days when the hype wasn’t there.  I guess the argument can be made that all this is “good for baseball” but jeez, when the sports media is busy covering what I considering entertainment (i.e. not sports) for purely monetary reasons, I’m not sure it’s such a good thing. 

Delineating sports and entertainment… I suppose I’m sounding like a purist now.