You know, Joe, those new Rays uniforms look spectacular, and I don't think for a minute that the players wearing sandwich boards will interfere with their play. Somewhere in all that advertiser barrage there is still a ball game to be played. The campaign also is intended to try and boost the game's declining television ratings in the face of a cable TV glut of sports coverage. New York Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott offered a revealing remark Thursday about the low profile of Florida baseball. If Major League Baseball were a publicly traded company, its shares would be tanking.
Costs are out of control.
Lucky for Selig and his fellow owners that Major League Baseball continues to enjoy monopoly status. Earlier this year, baseball owners endorsed a competitive balance draft. The proposed draft faces an uphill battle. Baseball could consolidate by eliminating some of the weakest teams. An unpopular idea to fans, but attractive to baseball's bean counters.