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Forbes: MLB team values hit record high average of $1.2b, up 48% from previous year

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Syrinx

Member
It definitely has some potential future hurdles, but then, most sports do.

Baseball's biggest issues right now are that its fanbase is aging and disproportionately white. In addition, the national broadcasts get terrible ratings because nobody wants to watch MLB teams outside their region, unlike NFL Football, where people will watch the Raiders play the Packers even if they live in Wyoming. But it has some big upsides, too; revenue is growing, local tv watching is on the rise, even if national watching is declining, and the sport has considerable penetration in third world countries and in Asia, which primes it for growth long term globally.

NFL is a good foil here. It's fanbase is younger and its national tv ratings are excellent, but its appeal outside the US remains very limited and the concussion trouble legitimately threatens the sports long term potential, as fewer children are expected to play the sport from a young age. Additionally, because the NFL only has 8 home games a year, their ticket sales are considerably smaller than a sport that has 81 home games a year.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, here, just showing that no sport is without its troubles. I think MLB's national TV ratings dip is what most people think about when they think baseball is "dying."

This may just be me talking and not applicable to the baseball-viewing population at large, though I've seen several express similar sentiments, but Fox's and ESPN's generally awful national productions are a big part of what keeps me from watching a lot of nationally televised games.

There's also that a single baseball game holds significantly less weight than a single football game in terms of standings and playoff position and what-not.
 
It definitely has some potential future hurdles, but then, most sports do.

Baseball's biggest issues right now are that its fanbase is aging and disproportionately white. In addition, the national broadcasts get terrible ratings because nobody wants to watch MLB teams outside their region, unlike NFL Football, where people will watch the Raiders play the Packers even if they live in Wyoming.

The NFL is a really good TV product. I'm not a fan, but even the way they market the game during the offseason is remarkable. The combination of gambling and fantasy sports only adds to the fire.

Nationally nobody watches baseball during August and the late summer months even though there's no football or basketball. If they moved the post season to those months they could generate a ton of national interest. How they do that is up for debate, but I like the idea.

I would be for removing games, but I don't think you could remove enough to make each game count like in football so I don't think it makes much sense unless it's to move the post season up. In general I'm for things that bring scoring or pace up though.
 

cashman

Banned
Italy used to have a pro league. I assume they still do.
The Netherlands are really into baseball. They always have a respectable showing at the World Juniors.

Don't know how it works at world juniors but their national teams are always stocked with players from their old territories in the Antilles. Only a few players are from the mainland.
 

cashman

Banned
Baseball also has a more than decent chance to be back in the olympics in 2020.

Don't think this is gonna happen, since I'm sure the IOC doesn't want no name College players on the rosters and the MLB isn't gonna do a stoppage mid season. The WBC fills the international role just the way they want it.
 
So glad my small market Cardinals get competitive balance draft picks to make up for their disadvantageous position in the baseball world.

small market my butt. don't the Cardinals broadcast outside of St. Louis? and they sell out every night. they got plenty of money which they reinvest in the farm system.

Soccers getting bigger by the day

sure. but that's like saying an Ant is getting bigger at the same time an Elephant is growing as well.


On another note, I do enjoy metatribalism. You'll see fans of one sports team get hostile with the fans of another sports team, but when the fans of an entirely different sport come rolling in, suddenly the two original enemies band together and become allies against the evil invaders who love soccer or curling or whatever.

kill the interlopers!!!

Color me surprised. Baseball has done nothing to improve the game and bring fans in, so I'm not sure where the interest is coming from. As boring as always, baseball, the national snore.

you can't improve on perfection. Football has the same plodding pace and the action is more stop and go than Baseball. going to the ballpark is still the best experience out of the four major sports. but I guess it's too slow for you Mr. 21st century fiber optic instant gratification VR kids huh?
 

Zee-Row

Banned
Rays need a new stadium in downtown Tampa and a better TV deal badly.

Wonder how the Marlins are still near the bottom even with a new ballpark?
 

Mr.Swag

Banned
Rays need a new stadium in downtown Tampa and a better TV deal badly.

Wonder how the Marlins are still near the bottom even with a new ballpark?
Because no one goes to the games.

Its stated a lot, but its true, Miami is not a sports fan city.
Dolphins are probably the most famous team here, Heat only when they're winning. No one cares about the Marlins.


Miami people want to dance,fuck,drink,tan, and shop. Sports aren't fun enough down here.

Also, who the hells wants to sit for three or four hours in the sun watching guys try and hit a ball? New stadium or not, its just not that appealing.
 

Zee-Row

Banned
If the Rays don't get a new stadium soon don't be surprised to see them being moved to Montreal.
They are still bound by the lease at the Trop until 2027. St Pete officials won't let the Rays look at stadium sites in Tampa. They would rather lose the team to another state than to Tampa because they have this inferiority complex to Tampa.
 
NBA teams have also increased value and I think better targets younger fans. Clippers sold for $2 billion and Forbes values the average NBA team around $1.1 billion. The fight for America's no.2 sport will be interesting.

The average NBA team will probably skyrocket in value when the new TV deal begins a year or two from now.
 
I don't understand how anyone could derive any pleasure from watching a MLB game. It could be a cultural thing but the Rays game I went to was unbelievably dull. I fail to see how any of these teams can rake in that much money and be worth a couple of billion dollars.
Any game in that dump of a ballpark would be dull...
 

rekameohs

Banned
Ewwww. Cant wait for MLS to overtake it.


Florida with them bottoms.

322443986_medium.gif
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
It's going to happen. Definitely not any time soon, but considering the changing demographics of this country it's an inevitability.

Soccer consumes all.

The change in demographics in terms of the player base will likely be more of a shift of younger talent away from youth football towards basketball and baseball than towards soccer. Soccer will continue to grow, but I think a lot of people are too aggressive/optimistic with their timelines.
 
Because no one goes to the games.

Its stated a lot, but its true, Miami is not a sports fan city.
Dolphins are probably the most famous team here, Heat only when they're winning. No one cares about the Marlins.


Miami people want to dance,fuck,drink,tan, and shop. Sports aren't fun enough down here.

Also, who the hells wants to sit for three or four hours in the sun watching guys try and hit a ball? New stadium or not, its just not that appealing.

about as appealing as watching a bunch dudes try and kick a ball for two hours.

It's going to happen. Definitely not any time soon, but considering the changing demographics of this country it's an inevitability.

Soccer consumes all.

I predict in 50 years I will either be dead or a millionaire.
 
In a hypothetical Oakland-L.A. World Series, you would cheer for __________.

Never, ever, ever would a Giants fan support LA in anything, let alone against the A's. Giants fans see the A's as like their poor cousins from the other side of the tracks, in their sad little stadium smoking all that weed and if they win, well good on 'em!

But a Giants fan can't even see blue without hate beginning to boil inside of them.

It's going to happen. Definitely not any time soon, but considering the changing demographics of this country it's an inevitability.

Soccer consumes all.

People been saying that since the 70's.
 

G-Fex

Member
Freaking dodgers, from the bums of brooklyn to the expensive team of the west.


LOL Baseball will never die.

It survived two world wars, recession and shutouts.

THE National pastime
 

Opiate

Member
small market my butt. don't the Cardinals broadcast outside of St. Louis? and they sell out every night. they got plenty of money which they reinvest in the farm system.

That's true, but this really depends on how you define a market. If there is a city with 100,000 people and 50k of those show up to the ballgame every night and all 100k watch every game in some fashion, that would still clearly be a small market, but one which just so happened to have a highly motivated fan base. The Green Bay Packers are a less extreme example of this concept.

By contrast, there can (and have) been teams in huge markets that have very poor fan engagement and sell few tickets and get bad TV ratings despite being in a market with 6M or 10M or 20M people. It's still a large market; the team just isn't engaging the fans well.

With all that said, Saint Louis is still in the top 20 largest metro areas so I'd classify it as more medium-sized than small-sized. The Cardinals have tremendous engagement with the city, however, with a hugely disproportionate percentage of the city which follows them.
 

Opiate

Member
That and they have a large nationwide following just like the Packers do.

Yes, very true. The Cardlinals are an older team, benefit from having no baseball teams in any of the six states south/southeast of them, and have the particular strength of having their radio broadcast channel be available for several states. The "Cardinals" market isn't really just Saint Louis.
 

ReAxion

Member
That's true, but this really depends on how you define a market. If there is a city with 100,000 people and 50k of those show up to the ballgame every night and all 100k watch every game in some fashion, that would still clearly be a small market, but one which just so happened to have a highly motivated fan base. The Green Bay Packers are a less extreme example of this concept.

By contrast, there can (and have) been teams in huge markets that have very poor fan engagement and sell few tickets and get bad TV ratings despite being in a market with 6M or 10M or 20M people. It's still a large market; the team just isn't engaging the fans well.

With all that said, Saint Louis is still in the top 20 largest metro areas so I'd classify it as more medium-sized than small-sized. The Cardinals have tremendous engagement with the city, however, with a hugely disproportionate percentage of the city which follows them.

They use media market size to measure this, not population.
 

ryseing

Member
MLS will overtake MLB in 25 years. Today is the day NeoGAF has jumped the shark. No one in America gives a fuck about soccer except during World Cup season.

WAT.

MLS is obviously below the Big Four, but saying no one gives a fuck is ridiculous.

Not gonna overtake MLB in 25 years though, absolutely. But NHL in the States? Probably.

They're making some good moves. Need to get the Miami/Beckham thing straightened out and just give Sacramento a team.
 
I say if the Clippers were bought for 2 billion and have only had about 4 or 5 average to good seasons in the franchise history, then the Yankees so the Yankees literally should be worth a lot more
 
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