MLB released a multi-market study showing that baseball
is the favorite pro sport among women. The study,
established last year as a pilot program in Atlanta,
Cleveland, Houston, L.A., Milwaukee and N.Y., is part of The
Commissioner's Initiative on Women and Baseball, an effort
to help MLB and its 30 teams build support among female
audiences. DC-based Eisner Sanderson and The Polling
Company coordinated and conducted the research and surveyed
more than 3,000 adult women within the six markets from
March-July '99. The survey has a margin of error of +/-
1.8%. The data shows that among the four major pro team
sports, MLB is the most family-friendly (6-to-1), most
accessible (5-to-1) and provides the best role models (4-to-
1). Meanwhile, 72% feel MLB games provide a wholesome
environment, and by a 2-to-1 margin, women say that MLB is
their favorite among all pro sports to watch on TV and
attend in person (MLB). Royals VP/Marketing &
Communications Mike Levy said that the team tries to "target
women in several ways, like advertisements on radio stations
that women are inclined to listen" to and TV shows women
watch. The Royals are in the process of organizing a
"Women's Clinic," a program for women who "want to learn
how to ... understand the game better (K.C. STAR, 7/27).
REAX ON MLB BLUE RIBBON PANEL: Forbes' Ozanian and
Badenhausen write an Op-Ed in today's WALL STREET JOURNAL
disputing the recent findings made by MLB's Blue Ribbon
Panel on Baseball Economics: "We just can't take your report
seriously. ... The best way to analyze an industry's
prospects -- especially one that is, like baseball,
dominated by privately held businesses -- is by looking at
asset values, not by pulling numbers from income statements.
... Based on asset appreciation, the national pastime
resembles a growth industry, not one in dire straits. ... We
suspect the players' union and the paying fans will see
through this charade" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/27). In
Portland (ME), Eric Conrad wrote that the Blue Ribbon panel
members "are dead wrong when they imply that baseball's
loyalty to its host cities, forced or unforced, is bad.
Actually, it's great" (Portland PRESS-HERALD, 7/26).
