MLB's local TV ratings were strong this past season, and revenues also continue to growGETTY IMAGES
Despite a narrative emphasizing "complaints or suggested improvements" for MLB, it is "important to remember that the sport is doing just fine," according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com. If baseball was "dying," Fox execs "would not agree to pay even more money to air it," as reflected in last week's seven-year extension. Olney: "If baseball was dying, then players wouldn't glean the record-setting salaries. ... The franchise values wouldn't climb substantially, which they have." MLB is "not a charity," but is in fact a "massive business that apparently is thriving to the degree that commissioner Rob Manfred just got a five-year extension." MLB's local TV ratings also are "very good," and revenues "continue to grow." Sometime in the next decade, MLB will have "no problem attracting bids for two expansion franchises, perhaps placing one" in Montreal, Portland, Nashville or Charlotte. The current relationship between MLB and the players' union is a "major concern, perhaps the most significant threat to the health of the game." Olney: "Somehow and some way, the dialogue to address the necessary changes needs to move forward" (ESPN.com, 11/17). In N.Y., Bill Madden wrote, "Baseball’s hot stove season has officially begun and all signs point to a decidedly more player-friendly free agent environment as opposed to last year’s deep freeze that lasted for many months" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/18).
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE: In Boston, Sean McAdam noted as part of the MLB-Fox deal beginning in '22, the increase in annual rights will provide "about" $24M per team. McAdam: "And that doesn’t begin to account for rights deals with TBS, ESPN and the national radio deal." That will "likely mean" about $40M in payments to each club. With that increase on the horizon, "expect that the Players Association will take note as it gets ready to negotiate" a new CBA (BOSTONSPORTSJOURNAL.com, 11/18). In San Jose, Jon Wilner wrote the "most significant takeaway" from the MLB-Fox renewal is the "reaffirmation of the primacy of legacy media." Evidence to date in the media landscape, "including and especially the MLB deal," suggests that Fox and ESPN will "remain the primary distributors of live sports and that the digital giants will play a subordinate role, if any" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 11/16).
