Forget Salary Cap, Baseball Needs a Profit Cap

Scott Boras set off a firestorm – like only Scott Boras – when he issued a doctrine about team spending and use of revenue sharing funding. It’s not a new debate, but more pertinent given the timing, at the start of a free agent period when teams may start to reign in payroll, thus cutting [...]

Should Sports Change Revenue Sharing to TARP-like Program?

Last week’s SBJ cover story on the state of Detroit’s sports teams battling through the recession further illuminates how hard the recession has hit that part of the country. Sports teams are the least of Detroit’s problems, yet they remain one of the few refuges for an area fraught with unemployment and failing businesses.
Three key [...]

Can Fans Handle More Fantasy? Teams Should Find Out

Nobody can debate the power of fantasy sports and the value of the marketplace, currently dominated by football. Following typical economics, as customers showed their appetite for more fantasy, competitors have flooded the market with countless products, each claiming a different fantasy experience, or unique prizes. In the end, most of the products are similar [...]

MLBAM Postseason Deal Solidifies Key Premise in Digital

MLBAM announced a deal with Turner and Fox to offer a postseason version of its popular live streaming video package. I’ve read a few comments describing confusion over adding another product to the myriad of permutations that MLBAM already offers, but this should be a case study on monetizing digital content.
MLBAM is taking its valuable [...]

Rangers Become MLB’s Version of Citi and BofA

Multiple sources report that Tom Hicks has borrowed at least $15mm from MLB to cover operational expenses this year. Though Hicks has tried to position it as essentially short-term revolving credit, given the dreary state of Hicks’ personal finances, plus the amount he has tied up in illiquid assets (mainly other sports franchises), this loan [...]

New Ticket Offers: Innovative or Another Reason to Worry?

In this blog, I’ve previously lauded the Cleveland Indians for cross-marketing deals with the Browns and creating ancillary revenue streams by hosting dinners on the field and additional events outside the game. However, after the Tribe recently announced another cross-marketing deal, this time with the Blue Jackets, a few weeks after owner Charles Dolan claimed [...]

Create the College Football MLB Stadium Tour

The NHL crafted a regular season event with the Winter Classic, MLB and the NBA have All-Star games, the NFL and MLB have taken the show on the road to play overseas, college football has an opportunity to ratchet things up in the regular season that has started to take form.
Grant it college football has [...]

CBA Talks Start to Hit Stride – What to Expect

SBJ last week did a cover story on the upcoming CBA negotiations for the four major sports, each whose contract expires in a different quarter in 2011, making 2010 a big year for negotiations. Less linked to the big four, but still worth watching, MLS enters what could become a ground changing CBA negotiation this [...]

New Era of Draft Contracts Impact Expectations, Player Development

Strasburg set the contract record for a draft pick, no matter what way you slice it, but it’s the overall trend that raises more concern. Strasburg could very well become the A-Rod of this generation of draft picks, or the Brien Taylor, either way he is one player. For a minute, let’s set aside the [...]

YES Network Marketing Follies for Live In-Market Streaming Package

“Watch the Yankees when you’re locked out of your house?” I know that’s not the first thought when I’m locked out, it’s a distant second, with everything else behind gaining entry! Yet, that is how YES Network is pushing their product to the market place.
When the Yankees, YES, and MLBAM announced the first live in-market [...]