A Year Without Fandom (do Manfred and owners actually care?)

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/a-year-without-fandom-why-these-baseball-fans-stopped-watching-in-2020-and-how-mlb-can-win-them-back-211618097.html

[South Side Hit Men]

“I think there’s likely to be a work stoppage after the 2021 season. Any CBA that would encourage one of the richest and most storied franchises in the game to trade away a generational talent like Mookie Betts for pennies on the dollar is fundamentally broken,” Hocherman, the Nats fan with opening day tickets, said.

“Thirty billionaires laying people off in the middle of a pandemic to save what amounts to a couple days’ worth of interest to them is enraging. The destruction of the minor leagues, which is where baseball grooms not only their future talent, but their future fans who don’t live within reasonable distance of a major league franchise, or can’t afford to drop $400 on a game and a couple dogs, is another issue I find maddening.

I was an early adopter of ‘Moneyball’ and the thinking behind finding undervalued statistics that correlate strongly with winning in order to compete with the big spenders, but it’s gotten to the point where a team like the Red Sox would rather fly an ‘In Under the Luxury Tax’ banner than a pennant.

How is a fan supposed to love a game that is so despised by the people who run it?

 

PS - Liesdorf hates Basketball too.

 

[Flash]

Yep...very insightful read. Thanks for posting

[Dominikk85]

Most owners are 65+ years old and they mostly care about the value of their product in the next 10 years.

I wouldn't say they hate the game but their main focus is short term profit and not the long term outlook.

Contracting the minors for example could cost fans in the long run because less kids are able to see affordable pro ball in stadium but it saves money now.

Also like in soccer in europe the focus is more and more on TV (or stream in the future) and less on the live visitors.