Sunday, April 11, 2004
Selig Talks About What's On Deck
Bud talks to Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer He says the owners and players are "close" to agreeing on a baseball World Cup to be held during spring training. On the issue of steroids, Bud could be in for a lot of sleepless nights:
"We need to adopt the minor-league program at the major-league level. And until we do, frankly, I will not rest."
The Commissioner also defends the Phillies against charges from people like George Steinbrenner (and me), who have wondered why a club playing in a market larger than Boston [.PDF link] should have received $42 million from the revenue-sharing pool over the past four years:
"That's very unfair. The Phillies were in a tough position. They were in a park that didn't produce enough revenue. Now they are, and they'll pay, and that's the way it should be. I expect them to contribute mightily now. Now they have a ballpark, and they'll spend on players and revenue sharing."
The Commissioner reiterated that the Expos' situation "will be resolved in July," and said that "Las Vegas is a viable consideration. Thirty years ago, we would have automatically eliminated them. It's different now. No decision has been made, but they are being very aggressive."
Entirely aside from the issue of gambling, the problem with baseball in Las Vegas is people As of the 2000 census [.PDF link], the Las Vegas metropolitan area was smaller than any existing major league market -- and unlike any existing major league market, outside the metropolitan area there is essentially zero population within driving distance. The nearest town with as many as 20,000 people is 105 miles away (Kingman, AZ); the nearest with 50,000 is 121 miles away (St. George, UT).
By contrast, the smallest current market, Milwaukee, has Madison (metro population: 426,526), Sheboygan (metro population: 112,646), and all of Chicago's northern suburbs within the same driving-time distance. The second smallest market, Kansas City, can also draw from St. Joseph, MO, and Topeka and Lawrence, KS (combined metro population: 370,000).
A team in Las Vegas could easily sell out its skyboxes and luxury seats to casinos, but would be lucky to draw 15,000 actual paying customers per night. A disproportionate number of the locals work second- and third-shift jobs and can't attend games at 7 PM. The millions of tourists who fill Las Vegas's hotels aren't there for baseball; most would go only if the casinos comped them. Local media rights would be nearly worthless, and MLB's national TV partners would much rather see a team in a larger market where people actually watch TV at night.
Does MLB really want to turn the Expos into a heavily subsidized ward of the Nevada gaming industry?
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Bud talks to Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer He says the owners and players are "close" to agreeing on a baseball World Cup to be held during spring training. On the issue of steroids, Bud could be in for a lot of sleepless nights:
"We need to adopt the minor-league program at the major-league level. And until we do, frankly, I will not rest."
The Commissioner also defends the Phillies against charges from people like George Steinbrenner (and me), who have wondered why a club playing in a market larger than Boston [.PDF link] should have received $42 million from the revenue-sharing pool over the past four years:
"That's very unfair. The Phillies were in a tough position. They were in a park that didn't produce enough revenue. Now they are, and they'll pay, and that's the way it should be. I expect them to contribute mightily now. Now they have a ballpark, and they'll spend on players and revenue sharing."
The Commissioner reiterated that the Expos' situation "will be resolved in July," and said that "Las Vegas is a viable consideration. Thirty years ago, we would have automatically eliminated them. It's different now. No decision has been made, but they are being very aggressive."
Entirely aside from the issue of gambling, the problem with baseball in Las Vegas is people As of the 2000 census [.PDF link], the Las Vegas metropolitan area was smaller than any existing major league market -- and unlike any existing major league market, outside the metropolitan area there is essentially zero population within driving distance. The nearest town with as many as 20,000 people is 105 miles away (Kingman, AZ); the nearest with 50,000 is 121 miles away (St. George, UT).
By contrast, the smallest current market, Milwaukee, has Madison (metro population: 426,526), Sheboygan (metro population: 112,646), and all of Chicago's northern suburbs within the same driving-time distance. The second smallest market, Kansas City, can also draw from St. Joseph, MO, and Topeka and Lawrence, KS (combined metro population: 370,000).
A team in Las Vegas could easily sell out its skyboxes and luxury seats to casinos, but would be lucky to draw 15,000 actual paying customers per night. A disproportionate number of the locals work second- and third-shift jobs and can't attend games at 7 PM. The millions of tourists who fill Las Vegas's hotels aren't there for baseball; most would go only if the casinos comped them. Local media rights would be nearly worthless, and MLB's national TV partners would much rather see a team in a larger market where people actually watch TV at night.
Does MLB really want to turn the Expos into a heavily subsidized ward of the Nevada gaming industry?
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