Ryan Zimmerman Is Enjoying Left Field, But Third Base Looms
Left field at AT&T Park in San Francisco is spacious — but compared to center field and right field, it’s not terribly complicated. No unusually high brick walls; no tricky angles. After Barry...
View ArticleTrafficking in Cuban Ballplayers: A Look at Florida’s New Law
Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law on Friday that gives local governments access to $13 million annually in funding for the construction or renovation of a professional sports facility....
View ArticleAthletics To Play In Oakland At Least 10 More Years — Or Not
For years, the baseball world has been waiting for Commissioner Bud Selig to say something definitive about a new home for the Oakland Athletics. On Wednesday, he finally did. The reaction was anything...
View ArticleThe International Spending Limits Are Not Limits At All
Major League Baseball’s signing period for international prospects kicked off on Wednesday and will continue until June 15, 2015. Teams may sign players residing outside the United States, Canada and...
View ArticleMid-Season Local TV Ratings And Measuring Fan Engagement
Sports Business Journal published an article on Monday sounding the alarm about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ plummeting local TV ratings. Last season, the Dodgers averaged 226,000 households per game...
View ArticleThe Dark Side Of Booming Local TV Deals
Bud Selig has been giddy watching baseball teams attract bigger and bigger local television deals. More local TV revenue to a team means more money for the league to spread via revenue sharing and...
View ArticleNew York Court Hands Orioles Early Victory In MASN Dispute
A fight between the Orioles and Nationals over MASN’s television rights fees has been brewing for years. MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) was created as a form of financial compensation to the...
View ArticleAT&T And DirecTV Present Plan To Takeover CSN Houston
Last week, we reported on the ongoing bankruptcy saga involving Comcast SportsNet Houston, the joint venture created and owned by Comcast Sports Group, the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets. More...
View ArticleConsumers Win Right to Trial vs MLB Over Blackouts
A federal judge in New York ruled on Friday that Major League Baseball will face trial for violations of federal antitrust laws by stemming the exclusive broadcast territories for each of its 30 teams....
View ArticleNinth Circuit Court Leans Toward MLB In Dispute Over Antitrust Exemption
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments today on the existence and scope of Major League Baseball’s exemption from federal antitrust law. The arguments...
View ArticleMLBAM Chief Says Local Broadcasts May Be Available On Mobile
Major League Baseball Advanced Media CEO Bob Bowman told the Associated Press this week that some baseball fans may be able to stream local broadcasts to their desktops and mobile devices by as early...
View ArticleLongtime Agents Slash Fees, Try To Shake Up Industry
When deciding who will represent them in contract negotiations, professional baseball players can choose from hundreds of certified agents. There are big shops like Boras Corporation, Excel Sports...
View ArticleRoyals Are From Mars, Tigers Are From Venus
The Royals lead the American League Central by one game over the Tigers after Detroit defeated the Indians Thursday night, 11-4 in 11 innings. The teams are even in wins with 77; the Tigers have two...
View ArticleInnovations In Sports Analytics: Training, Development & Performance
Innovation Enterprise conducted a two-day Sports Analytics Innovation Summit in San Francisco last week. This is Innovation Enterprise’s speciality — conferences and online learning focused on “big...
View ArticleInnovations In Sports Analytics: Marketing & In-Game Experiences
I attended the Sports Analytics Innovation Summit in San Francisco last week. On Tuesday, I wrote about the presentations that focused on player training, development and performance. You can read that...
View ArticleDefensive Replacements and Their Role in No-Hitters
Washington Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann pitched a no-hitter against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. It was the first no-hitter in the history of the ten-year-old franchise. It was also the last day...
View ArticleDivvying Up Postseason Ticket Revenue
During the 2012 postseason, I wrote this post explaining how revenue generated by postseason tickets sales is shared among the league, postseason teams and players on postseason teams. The basic...
View ArticleFor Perennial Postseason Teams, Ticket Price Fatigue
The secondary ticket price market for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series was the worst I’d seen in the postseason since the Giants opened AT&T (nee Pac Bell) Park in 2000. I had...
View ArticleAn Unchanging Truth: Positional Offense Through History
Baseball has seen many changes in the past 100 years. Some changes are significant enough, retrospectively, to define an era. There was the Deadball Era from roughly 1901 to 1919, characterized by an...
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