Mensa guy's radical ideas for changing baseball.

[TheLeviathan]

What would be lost if baseball became more of a niche sport? It's not going to disappear completely. TV contracts (if such things even exist in a decade) will provide less money. Admission will probably be cheaper as teams attempt to fill their large facilities. Player salaries will have to go down, but most MLB players could lead satisfying lives on a fifth (if not a tenth) of their earnings. But surely the game will still be there for those who love it.

 

I'm not sure this is such a bad thing, especially compared to changing the essential nature of the game to cater to the whims of short attention spans.

A good point. There are advantages to being a niche sport as a fan.

 

I’m not MLB would agree though.

[Nine of twelve]

 

What would be lost if baseball became more of a niche sport? It's not going to disappear completely. TV contracts (if such things even exist in a decade) will provide less money. Admission will probably be cheaper as teams attempt to fill their large facilities. Player salaries will have to go down, but most MLB players could lead satisfying lives on a fifth (if not a tenth) of their earnings. But surely the game will still be there for those who love it.

 

I'm not sure this is such a bad thing, especially compared to changing the essential nature of the game to cater to the whims of short attention spans.

The biggest downsize of this would be that there would certainly be contraction. We'd wind up with two 8-team leagues with only the most profitable franchises surviving. It would be 1950 all over again.

[Thrylos]

 

A few quotes from a retailer CEO:

 

 

 

Retailer?  Sears.  

 

Hmm...  In a vacuum this might seem half way insightful.

 

The MLB revenues year by year have been posted.  It is a growing business.

Here is the related bar graph for Sears.

 

 

Methinks that these are 2 businesses going in two different ways and if anyone is willing to compare them, at least he/she does not know what he/she is talking about as far as business goes.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Hmm...  In a vacuum this might seem half way insightful.

 

The MLB revenues year by year have been posted.  It is a growing business.

Here is the related bar graph for Sears.

 

 

Methinks that these are 2 businesses going in two different ways and if anyone is willing to compare them, at least he/she does not know what he/she is talking about as far as business goes.

 

Again, your post is fallacious and misleading.  It's like comparing how much money Gone with the Wind made compared to Avengers.  I bet Sears revenue in 2007 looked good compared to 1987, but that isn't the best sign of business health.  Not by itself at least.

 

Yes, the league is getting away with charging a lot right now because their 55 year old white dudes that compromise most of their fan base are forking over the cash.  In 20 years, who replaces them?  You can pat the league on the back for it's revenues, but any manager/CEO worth their salt would not use such a simplistic argument as yours to project the health and future of their company.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Fox had a camera showing fans leaving the Tigers game tonight.

 

There were like 90% millennials. Streaming out. At the actual game, spending money.

[T_J]

It think its worth having players use social media during the game. Show some behind the scene stuff, some in game insight, some funny snapshots. Maybe not the nine on but some bench players of players on their off day. Make the game more interactive. Make you feel like you're apart of the dugout. The youth are an instant gratification lot, let them know what was the thinking at the time and not after the game. 

 

Imagine a twitter argument between a batter and pitcher from the other team. The interest level could skyrocket. 

[Nine of twelve]

 

It think its worth having players use social media during the game. Show some behind the scene stuff, some in game insight, some funny snapshots. Maybe not the nine on but some bench players of players on their off day. Make the game more interactive. Make you feel like you're apart of the dugout. The youth are an instant gratification lot, let them know what was the thinking at the time and not after the game. 

 

Imagine a twitter argument between a batter and pitcher from the other team. The interest level could skyrocket. 

If I were a manager and noticed one of my players was goofing on his phone when his job is to be involved with the game he'd quickly learn never to do that again. 

[kenbuddha]

 

What check engine light?  Imaginary? 

 

Fact:  MLB revenue by year:   Look at the rates of growth from 2001-2009 and 2010-2017.   This is a business in growth.

 

Revenues may be going up (are those normalized or just raw numbers), but attendance is basically flat over the last 10 years.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/193421/regular-season-attendance-in-the-mlb-since-2006/

[PseudoSABR]

 

Fox had a camera showing fans leaving the Tigers game tonight.

There were like 90% millennials. Streaming out. At the actual game, spending money.

The common inference, here, might be negative, but I think that millennials are willing to spend money to attend part of the game is a good thing for baseball.  They go to the ballpark to have a good time, and when they get bored, they leave.  They aren't invested in the outcome; they are invested in the experience of being outside at a ballgame.   They may disappoint us hardcore fans, but it's a reality for many, many who attend games, I'd argue the great majority.  They go for the park-like, summer-time atmosphere (honestly, it's a bit like tail-gaiting; and I think stadiums should adopt some of those features; can you imagine a grill guy in your section?!).  Not to see who wins.   Sure they root for the home team, but they don't have any investment in chasing the outcome to the last inning.  If this is the case, shorting the game doesn't really matter.  Rather if baseball wants to increase revenue, they need to create more investment to stay; the investment to come is already there. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

The real "king" here is TV. Football shows better on tv than baseball.

[Jacksson]

Gotta extend the DH to the NL. Boring as hell watching the vast majority of pitchers bat. Eliminate the sacrifice fly. Have any caught foul tip on any count be an out. Expand the 25 man roster to 28 - or even 30. Expand the 40 man roster to 45. Eliminate the "give back" part of the rule 5 draft. Free substitution of players/pitchers as opposed to one and done.

[Jacksson]

Fox had a camera showing fans leaving the Tigers game tonight.

 

There were like 90% millennials. Streaming out. At the actual game, spending money.

Those millennials were most likely there courtesy of corporate season tickets. They were there treating customers/clients and were interested in promoting their business and loading up on food and beer. Their knowledge of the game of baseball and their interest in the qualities and accomplishments of the players on EITHER team is virtually non-existent. The PRIMO seats are all corporately held and the people using them just want to brag around the water cooler that they WENT to a game, not enjoyed or watched a game.

[Vanimal46]

Those millennials were most likely there courtesy of corporate season tickets. They were there treating customers/clients and were interested in promoting their business and loading up on food and beer. Their knowledge of the game of baseball and their interest in the qualities and accomplishments of the players on EITHER team is virtually non-existent. The PRIMO seats are all corporately held and the people using them just want to brag around the water cooler that they WENT to a game, not enjoyed or watched a game.

How is that different from any other sport though? The last NFL game I went to, granted it was 6-7 years ago now was full of drunk idiots.

 

Every hockey game I go to is full of people just like you're describing. Drinking, eating good food, and yelling "SHOOT!" Any time the puck enters the offensive zone on a power play.

[Mike Sixel]

so tired of the anti millennial stuff I keep reading......some of this is that.

[Nine of twelve]

 

Gotta extend the DH to the NL. Boring as hell watching the vast majority of pitchers bat. Eliminate the sacrifice fly. Have any caught foul tip on any count be an out. Expand the 25 man roster to 28 - or even 30. Expand the 40 man roster to 45. Eliminate the "give back" part of the rule 5 draft. Free substitution of players/pitchers as opposed to one and done.

Free substitution? That means any player can bat at any time. Is that really what you are advocating?

[Jacksson]

Free substitution? That means any player can bat at any time. Is that really what you are advocating?

In the other major professional sports, a player can come in for as little as a single play and then come back in later, not even at the same position for one or multiple plays. In baseball, you pinch hit and either you replace that player or take the field as a result of other moves or you are done. There would have to be some rules to determine who can come in when to keep the game from getting crazy.

[Nine of twelve]

 

In the other major professional sports, a player can come in for as little as a single play and then come back in later, not even at the same position for one or multiple plays. In baseball, you pinch hit and either you replace that player or take the field as a result of other moves or you are done. There would have to be some rules to determine who can come in when to keep the game from getting crazy.

Other major professional sports are not baseball. The rules that are in place right now to determine who can come in when keep the game from getting crazy. No change needed.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Baseball is in full swing and the NBA finals were still going on but a recent "top story," detailed how Brady and Gronkowski skipped mini camp to train on their own. I tend to avoid ESPN as much as I can (I'm partial to Russillo's podcast and I like to catch SVP late night every so often) but you're spot on, the NFL is shoved down our collective throat all year long. I probably get more tilted about it than I should, but I really don't understand how the fatigue factor hasn't set in for more people.  

 

you sure it hasn't? NFL viewership has been in decline for a few seasons now.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm not sure the answer is to change the rules just to appease a specific marketing base. I think that backfires. The diehard fans, as mentioned here, won't like it, and I don't think it will ultimately lead to an increase of attendance, as I doubt the casual fan cares enough. MLB needs to figure out how to market their product to that fan. I don't think changing the rules of the sport will fix the problem. 

 

The NFL is going through a lot of this right now, with some pretty drastic changes to the rules of the sport. I don't think that is helping them. 

[lwarring]

 

Gotta extend the DH to the NL. Boring as hell watching the vast majority of pitchers bat. Eliminate the sacrifice fly. Have any caught foul tip on any count be an out. Expand the 25 man roster to 28 - or even 30. Expand the 40 man roster to 45. Eliminate the "give back" part of the rule 5 draft. Free substitution of players/pitchers as opposed to one and done.

 

I would argue against any expansion of the 25 man roster. Imagine how long it would take to complete a game if managers had access to a 12-15 man bullpen. We would see matchups starting in the 5th inning. I believe this would also be the ramification of shortening games to 7 innings or less. If pitchers only had to cover 7 innings, matchups might begin in the 3rd or 4th inning and a 7 inning game would still take 3 hours.

[Mike Sixel]

 

you sure it hasn't? NFL viewership has been in decline for a few seasons now.

 

NFL viewership is dropping slower than tv viewership overall......so, in context, I'm not sure it is dropping, as it were....

[TheLeviathan]

NFL viewership is dropping slower than tv viewership overall......so, in context, I'm not sure it is dropping, as it were....

And Super Bowl/playoff viewership remains high. The NFL has long term worries to be sure, but not like baseball.

[Danchat]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/major-league-baseball-sees-a-sharp-drop-in-attendance-1529063246

 

If anyone's got a Wall Street Journal subscription, you can see here that they've just recently written an article about the MLB's dropping attendance. Not-so-fun fact: Toronto's attendance has dropped by 29% this season. Yikes!

 

If you want to hear my opinion, interest in the MLB is clearly on the decline with those of my demographic (17-25 year old guys). I'm just not sure any tweaks are going to help... baseball is simply a slowly paced game that just doesn't connect with people with short attention spans. The NFL has been able to stay on top and at least minimize their decreases in revenue by having booming fantasy football and gambling departments, constant social media and news reporting 24/7, and just having less games that get more attention. The MLB feels a bit antiquated compared to the NFL and NBA, but I think that's just their niche. A quick and easy fix just doesn't exist, in my opinion. 

[TheLeviathan]

Bob Nightengale article