Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Leagues and Governing Bodies

Success Of MLB Series In Australia Could Entice NFL, NBA To Bring Games Down Under

MLB believes that the "groundbreaking games at the Sydney Cricket Ground this weekend could pave the way for the NBA and NFL to schedule regular-season fixtures in Australia," according to Michael Chammas of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. MLB Senior VP/Int'l Operations Paul Archey is "adamant the United States' major sporting bodies will be keeping a close eye on the success of this weekend's venture down under as part of a global search for the next region they can grow their game." He said, "They'll look at it and see 80,000 people attending games here on Saturday and Sunday and see that it works." But Archey "insists the ratings back home won't be a factor in determining the success" of MLB's decision to start the season in Sydney. He said, "We don't play these games for the reaction back home, otherwise we wouldn't do it. The success of it will be judged by the impact here and the exposure for the game. Does it give baseball a boost? Does it energise some potential business partners? Does it energise a fan base by introducing them to the game?" Archey: "We definitely hope to be coming back. We wouldn't be coming here and playing this if we thought we were never coming back" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/18).

GROWING THE GAME: The AP's Dennis Passa notes the ballpark configuration was officially unveiled today. Officials said that they "hoped Sydney might be included in a rotation for regular MLB games, possibly as early as 2018." Officials are expecting "about 40,000 fans for each game." Work began "a few weeks ago on transforming the cricket pitch to a baseball field" (AP, 3/17). ESPN's John Saunders said of the int'l series, "If baseball really wants to grow its game, don't they have to start growing it here at home more, because most of the players now or many of the players are coming from outside of the United States?" The Boston Globe's Bob Ryan said, "The number one crisis in baseball is obviously the fact that African-American youth do not play this game. And that baseball has missed out on generations, plural, of the best athletes. ... Absent Spanish-speaking people, baseball would be like Division III basketball" ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 3/16).

FORCE FED? USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes, "You get the sense in the Dodger clubhouse that the most excited players are the ones staying behind at their spring-training headquarters." Dodgers Special Advisor to the Chair Tommy Lasorda said, "You don't have to like it, but you have to do it. Basically, you're at their mercy.'' But D-Backs P J.J. Putz said, "Most guys here are really excited to go over there. A lot of the guys know it's going to be pretty special. I'm definitely excited to be a part of history'' (USA TODAY, 3/17). In Phoenix, Zach Buchanan notes D-Backs President & CEO Derrick Hall hopes the team's trip "will make it a lot easier for young Australians" to follow in D-Backs P Ryan Rowland-Smith's footsteps. Hall said that the team "volunteered for the international assignment in order to help raise its profile outside the U.S." He added, "The more that we can get out there internationally, it'll help our chances in trying to recruit talent and build relationships when it comes to finding players and scouting." Members of the D-Backs front office, along with P Patrick Corbin and 1B Paul Goldschmidt, have "twice visited Australia since the end of the 2013 season to promote the series." Buchanan notes baseball "may be still very much on the fringe of the Australian sports world ... but Hall hopes the team's enthusiasm for the trip creates a new set of fans in the Southern Hemisphere." Hall said, "When you go to hopefully sign a kid, say five years from now, they remember us having been there and perhaps they're watching us and following us and have dreams or visions of being in a D-Backs uniform one day" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/17).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2014/03/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/MLB-Australia.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2014/03/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/MLB-Australia.aspx

CLOSE