Hope everyone is having a good weekend with the freezing weather. Reading over the chapter, several topics came to mind. A lot of what was said about the business of sports media had to do with advertising as well as gaining rights to certain sports. MLB, which we have discussed at length in class, does not get the viewings other sports generate. It is hard to translate to television yet it is still fought over by networks. In 2006, Fox paid 2.5 billion for the rights to MLB games. This to me was interesting when on average the annual league value is 4164. Million. The first question I have is why, with the low ratings of baseball in the previous few years, are networks still paying “the big bucks” to have the rights to MLB games?
The NFL, through Pete Rozelle, was able to take advantage of the bidding for rights between networks. Rozelle negotiated so well that all three networks during the 1970s viewed football as “absolute essentials.” In creating this competition, Rozelle was able to bring in more revenue and force the networks to share the rights. For 2004 alone Fox and CBS agreed to pay 8 billion to broadcast Sunday games. The next question I have is, is it the nature of the game of football or Rozelle that allowed football to force network sharing?
There was a lot more in the chapter about spots business that would have posed interesting questions but in thinking about business in sports I cannot help to think of Joe Torre right now. Yes, it does not have much to do with what the chapter dealt with which was money but it still is part of the business. My thoughts about this are hard as a Yankee fan. I think very highly of Joe Torre. I do not really want to see him leave the Yankees but we won’t know till sometime this week perhaps. However, with a team like the Yankees, whose players receive such high salaries, can the blame really be place on Joe Torre? As we discussed last week in class, for these players this is their job and they are some of the highest paid in the leagues. So why are they not performing? My closing question is should we really blame Joe Torre who cannot get out there and physically play for the Yankees or should the blame be placed on the players?
Some articles about Joe Torre….
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21228671/site/newsweek/
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082007/sports/yankees/the_torre_story_should_continu.htm
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-torre&prov=ap&type=lgns
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For some reason I can't add our blog under my list of blogs so therefore I cannot create a new post. I've been trying to figure this out for an hour and have failed. So I'm just going to post my lead blog here for now...
One of the challenges in professional sports is creating a level playing field for all teams in order to have a more competitive league. This has been most successful in the NFL where television revenues are the most lucrative. Since there are more television revenues for the NFL, there’s more money to be divided up among the teams. However, what has given the NFL the edge, is the addition of salary caps, which prevent the big market teams from always cornering the market on star players. Does anyone think that the same strategy would work in the MLB inc rating a more competitive balance among teams?
The MLB has not been as successful as the NFL in creating a competitive league. The book states that the “perceived competitive balance issue can be largely attributed to the revenue disparity among teams’ local television revenues.” Teams like the Yankees and Red Sox largests revenues come from their own television stations (YES and NESN) where advertising dollars directly pad the wallets of the owners.
If you were Bud Selig how would you leverage revenue disparity among teams? If you are not a big market club how would you go about raising revenues? An argument that the big market teams have is that their revenue is being used to help their competition bolster their teams. Do you think this robin hood approach is fair?
In chapter 17 Mondalo also discusses the economics of collegiate sports. He notes that the NCAA owns the rights to just its championship events. As a result universities and conferences can negotiate their own broadcasting contracts. With the increased exposure of college sports on television the acquisition of star athletes by colleges and universities becomes more important than their academic credentials. If colleges focus more on acquiring “jocks” rather than “brains” do you think colleges academic standards will decline?
Here’s an article from 2005 on the Yankees and revenue thoughts.. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/columnist/bodley/2005-04-07-bodley-revenue-sharing_x.htm
Another article on baseball revenues
http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/17/06mlb_baseball-team-valuations-cx_mo_0420sports.html
oops i cut off the end... one more link to take a look at
(NFL revenue article from 04)
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2004-07-05-revenue-cover_x.htm
I think that the reason networks are still supporting major league baseball is in large part because of the nostalgia that comes with the idea of American history and baseball. It was one of the most critical staples to the sports industry at the beginning of professional leagues. With that in mind, I think I would answer the next question by saying, football, in turn, has become more or less the modern “all-American” sport. Because of its heightened public interest in the past several decades, the networks are clearly going to support the cause. Regardless of who negotiated the deals, it is the popular demand that keeps the networks working with football on the level they do.
And with regards to Joe Torre, as one of the few Yankee fans in our class…I stand beside Jill’s statement that perhaps we shouldn’t be judging Joe Torre so harshly because of the Yankee team’s inability to execute on account of the players. Surely, teams can win or lose because of a coach in certain situations, but let’s look at all Joe Torre has done for the team. It’s not as if he is a rookie manager screwing up on the first season. He’s a veteran who has contributed numerous seasons to a successful team.
Even though I'm sure Bud Selig would like baseball ratings to be higher, its hard to say they are terrible when you compare them to the NBA and certainly the NHL. MLB is still ahead of both of those sports in ratings and the sheer amount of games in a baseball season is going to hurt ratings. But I think the main reason networks are still paying big for the games is because, as Nikki said, baseball is Americas past time. It is a sport with great history in our country and October baseball is still a big part of our sporting culture. Because of the history of the sport and the loyalties that so many people have to their teams, the ratings will always be at least decent and the fans will always be there. So i think it is smart that networks are willing to pay for baseball games.
Surely Pete Rozelle did a great job with the NFL and its networks, but you have to believe the sport of football itself was the main reason for network sharing. The ratings in the NFL are always solid, stadiums are packed and people just love to watch football. Since football is only on once a week, and on normally during a time when people are not at work or school, it only stands to reason that the ratings are going to be high. Thus, networks are going to fight, as they did in the 70's, to carry games. Watching football on Sunday is just a tradition in this country and that will never change. And the networks will follow.
As for Torre, I am a Met fan but still have lots of respect for him. He didn't deserve to be called out by Steinbrenner in the middle of a series. There is nothing he can do. He is given players and expected to win with them. Some are good, some are not. (Igawa, Kevin Brown, Pavano, Farnsworth...) Winning and losing starts with the players and if they don't perform, a team cant win. Don't blame Joe.
I have to agree with Nikki when she says that keeping baseball running is because it is a huge part of "American Tradition". Baseball was once the biggest sport in America to watch and play. I feel like major stations cannot let baseball go because it is such a sacred past time. Also, I think networks are keeping the MLB and investing so much into it because they are trying to keep it alive and keep it interesting. No, Baseball does not transition well onto television, or in real life in my opinion but people like it, people connect it to their past. Many baseball fans, like Seth always states like to just relax and watch the game. While I personally did not grow up a huge baseball fan or follower I can appreciate the great American past time for what it once was. Although the NFL gets much better ratings and revenue, the MLB is American tradition. I do have to say I enjoy watching football much more than baseball because honestly, it bores me and I feel like many people today feel the same way. So why keep spending tons of money on it? Because we aren’t ready to let go of on of our greatest past times as Americans.
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