I guess it would depend on the format for me. If the three division winners still go straight to the LDS and the four Wild Cards have to play a 4 for 1 then I'd be ok with it. If the second best division winner has to play before the LDS then it's terrible.

I'm not sure how much that would solve tanking though, your chances of even getting out of the Wild Card round would be pretty slim if you're an 80 win team, given how most owners have prioritized profits over competitiveness I doubt you'd see much difference from now.

The players have suggested a “ghost”win. In the first round a lower rank team playing a division winner would start the series with an automatic loss.

a new day off for labor! sweeeeeeet

moonshine

1. everything that is sold is not set to maximize revenue
2. labor like every other input cost cannot always be passed along

The major problem for me is the incentives don't line up for the owners. For the players, the equation is simple: the better you play, the more money you make. This is a win for everyone involved.

Unfortunately the owners have minimal incentive to win. It is possible thanks to revenue sharing for owners to deliberately run out a terrible team for years on end and still turn a profit. In any functional market, the Orioles would be out of business because of the dog **** they've put out on the field the last few years. Yet they are currently valued by Forbes to be worth $1.43 billion. Two years ago they were worth $1.28 billion. The system is so broken that being as bad as possible for years on end, on purpose, does not exert any downward pressure on the value of a team, and in fact has INCREASED it.

Owning an MLB team is a license to steal. No matter how bad a job you do, and how many games you lose, the value of your franchise (historically at least) continues to rise, because you are part of a legalized monopoly and cartel. So yes, if wages go up (all else equal) and ownership wants to maintain the same level of profit, ticket prices would have to go up as well. But revenues are going up while wages are going down, and that's STILL NOT ENOUGH FOR THE OWNERS.

That's the part that has me baffled anyone could possible defend the owners for a second here. They were already winning by a mile and they're sacrificing games in hopes of winning by even more.

Posted by bagchucker on 3/3/2022 10:01:00 AM (view original):
moonshine

1. everything that is sold is not set to maximize revenue
2. labor like every other input cost cannot always be passed along

Or you contract with a 3rd party delivery service like the Duke boys. DoorDash ain't got nuttin' on Bo and Luke!

i never owned a 69 charger but i had a orange 71 torino once

oh man i wish i could see 2020

did it plateau did it roll over

effin covid

That’s the owners big play. I can see Manfred now: “As you can see from the data, due to your high salaries which forced us to raise prices on tickets and concessions, attendance for games in 2020 plummeted.”

It would be great if fans could be coordinated enough to organize a walkout. No one attends a game for the first week of the season (whenever it starts). Let owners - and players to a lesser extent - see who really drives their profits and salaries.

Posted by 06gsp on 3/3/2022 11:34:00 AM (view original):
noted econ genius jmcraven, have you considered that maybe the rise in ticket prices had to do with increased demand to attend major league baseball games? Because if, as you posit, ticket prices went up to cover increased payroll costs, wouldn't this then lead to overall attendance declining because fewer consumers could afford to go?

Except attendance figures have consistently gone up during the period the union gained more power.

1970 per game average: 14,787
1980 per game average: 20,434
1990 per game average: 26,044
2000 per game average: 29,377
2010 per game average: 30,066

wow, that's wild! the greedy union demanded so much money, ticket prices went way up and squeezed out the fans, and yet somehow attendance figures skyrocketed despite that! it's almost like you don't have a f***ing clue what you're talking about!

The only difference in our views on rising ticket costs is your denial that player salaries are PART of the reason. They absolutely are a part of the reason. I never claimed they were the SOLE reason. It seems you can recognize that all economic factors impact ticket price, except you deny the cost of labor as a factor. Perhaps you didn't read about wage push inflation?

Also, note, I would never accuse you of not having a F'ing clue what you're talking about. But whatever. It amazes me how childish people get on the internet when others dare have a different view.

You mention increased attendance, yet provided no evidence that demand has exceeded supply. Unless every game is selling out, the demand argument doesn't tote the water very far. If anything, one could argue increased attendance should (there's that word "should") lower ticket prices because more butts in seats means more merch and food sales, more parking revenue, etc..

Last thing I would add is you gentlemen talk about owners as if this is still 1920. The ownership makeup of teams isn't the same as it used to be. These days, most teams are essentially corporations, like AT&T or GM, with a "Principal owner" instead of a "CEO." In the example of the Braves, this isn't one guy pocketing $100 million (although Freddie Freeman alone did pocket over $22 million). The purpose of a business like a MLB club is to make money; usually that involves winning, but not always. With a few exceptions, these principal owners or CEOs are essentially just employees drawing a salary like players. Only their job is to make money for the shareholders. If they fail, they can and will be replaced.

Also, again, don't paint me as a villain because I understand the economic dynamics of baseball operations. I'm not defending the actions of ownership. It often makes me ill to see what they are doing. I'm simply saying this is not a black hat/white hat situation. The players union has led to a lot of things that are bad for the fans. That is where my heart lies-- I'm a fan. Not a player, not an owner.