MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday stood firmly behind league partner DraftKings, representing the latest high-ranking sports industry exec to support a player in the embattled daily fantasy sports industry. Speaking during World Series Media Day in K.C., Manfred supported the league’s association with Boston-based DraftKings, in which MLB holds a small minority equity stake. "I really don’t have any regrets about our involvement with fantasy," said Manfred, reiterating efforts of a lengthy due diligence that preceded baseball’s investment in DraftKings. "I think that fantasy is an important source of fan engagement. It has been for a long time." Manfred added he sees a very clear line between daily fantasy and gambling. "I’m quite convinced it is a game of skill, as defined by the federal statute," he said. "And I’m comfortable with the idea that it’s not gaming. There’s a huge difference between Rob Manfred, citizen, betting on whether Kansas City beats Toronto or whomever and Rob Manfred picking nine guys off 18 teams to try to see if he can accumulate more points within a given set of guidelines than a hundred guys trying to do the same thing" (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). Manfred this morning during an interview on ESPN Radio reiterated his stance, saying, "I have never said that I am in favor of legalized gambling, and I want to be clear: Fantasy is not gambling in my view. What I’ve said about legalized gambling is that the landscape is changing." He said MLB during the offseason "will take a look at its relationship with legalized gambling, whether it’s sponsorship -- whatever -- and reevaluate, given that the country has changed in terms of its approach to legalized gambling” ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 10/27).
INCREASED BALLPARK SAFETY: Manfred said team owners during quarterly meetings next month in Dallas will hear a detailed presentation on options for increased ballpark safety netting, a move following a serious fan injury earlier this season at Fenway Park. He said, "We are prepared to have a very detailed presentation and conversation with the owners at the November meeting. I’m not prepared prior to that meeting to make a pronouncement as to what the new rule is going to be, if any. I think that it’s important that we have input and a full discussion among the clubs before we do that" (Fisher).
PLAYING INTO NOVEMBER: In N.Y., Tyler Kepner notes this year's World Series, which starts tonight at Kauffman Stadium, will "extend to Nov. 4 if it reaches a seventh game," and anything other than a sweep would mark the "fourth time the World Series has spilled over into November." An easy solution would "seem to be to start the regular season earlier and play the first week of games in warm-weather cities and domed stadiums." Manfred said that he "did not like the idea of playing in November but suggested that he had no choice." Manfred: "This calendar is the worst calendar for us in having to make a decision between starting quite early, in March, or rolling into November, like we decided to do." He added, "Starting early in March is no picnic, either. And I know people always talk about warm-weather schedules. Making those warm-weather schedules work is more difficult as a political matter than you might imagine. The warm-weather cities don’t want all those early dates when kids aren’t out of school, and it has ramifications among those franchises" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/27).
NO CHANGES TO POSTSEASON: Manfred talked about the idea of changing the current playoff format, but he said most MLB teams are "in favor of keeping a very selective postseason." He said, "We are the most selective postseason, and it’s part of baseball’s tradition. I think the clubs want to keep it that way.” Manfred doubted the postseason seeding would change, saying, "It’s important that the clubs stay focused on winning their divisions. ... It is important to keep those divisional titles as the most important goal for our teams” ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 10/27).
PAYROLL PARITY: The AP's Ronald Blum notes Manfred was "pleased teams outside the top spenders advanced deep into the postseason." MLB's calculations showed that of the four teams in the LCS, the Blue Jays' payroll at the end of the regular season ranked 10th with $135.5M, the Cubs' ranked 11th ($132.5M), the Royals' ranked 13th ($128.1M) and the Mets' ranked 19th ($109.6M). Manfred: "It shows that teams from all sorts of markets, if they have a strategy and stick to it, can win. And I think that's really, really important for the sport" (AP, 10/27).
PROTECTING MIDDLE INFIELDERS: Manfred said that there would be further discussion at the owners meetings next month about "changing the rules to protect middle infielders," but he stressed that these talks had "been underway long before" Dodgers 2B Chase Utley broke Mets SS Ruben Tejada's leg with a takeout slide in the NLDS (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/27).
