MLBAM Lays Off 3-4% Of Work Force, Will Reduce Prices For '09

Bowman Expects MLBAM Prices To Drop At Least 20%

MLBAM Friday laid of 20 of its 400-plus staff, "roughly 3-4[%], with original programming taking the biggest hit," according to Staci Kramer of PAIDCONTENT.org. MLBAM President & CEO Bob Bowman added that the league's digital arm will "reduce its prices for 2009." Bowman: "We have a divided loyalty to our fans and to our employees. … We need to do our level best for our fans and for the coming year, we have to lower our prices." Bowman "expects prices to drop at least 20[%] but said the final numbers have yet to be decided." The standard monthly subscription fee was $14.95 this year, so the "minimum cut would take it to roughly $12." Bowman added that MLBAM will "shift its priorities to what it does best and fans' number-one choice -- live game coverage, not early-morning live programming" (PAIDCONTENT.org, 12/5). Bowman added, "We are eight years old and we need to trim a few areas that have not been growing, and focus on areas that have been. There is no hiring freeze" (THE DAILY).

LONG-TERM FOCUSED: Bowman on the success of MLBAM, “We are sharing dividends right now. We paid back the money three years ago and we are paying now excess dividends. But it is to be expected, and the owners deserve it. This is a great asset that they came up with long before other people thought of it. Baseball was ahead of its time in this way and it’s understandable that we can be profitable and it’s understandable that if we serve the fans then we would be profitable.” He added, “We have the pleasure of being long-term focused. We don’t need to worry about today’s numbers. Bowman said MLBAM in the future may do “more updates on sports in terms of what is going on in the sporting world, certainly internationally as well as domestically. And I think you will see breaking news stories that we might just cover and have a little clip to let people watch.” Bowman: “We are never going to become an aggregator, we are a destination site. We are not a bouncing site. You do not come in and leave. You come in and then when you are done you leave and you go someplace else. But you are not there for 10 seconds, you are there for 10 minutes” (PAIDCONTENT.org, 12/5).