A-Rod, Gary Vee, Big Cat: You Fix Baseball With Javy Baez

Many of the people that will read this post are die hard Chicago Cubs fans. They will likely watch the Cubs whether they are winning 95 games a season or losing 95 games a season. There will also be a group of fans that who read this, and will watch baseball regardless of team, time, or whatever else is going on. The sad truth of baseball is, there aren’t many of those fans around anymore, and the game isn’t replacing them with new ones.

Now, you might say, “baseball is fine just the way it is, after all, they are a $10.3 billion business!” I will say you are right, any business that is worth north of $10 billion is a successful business. Heck, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has set a goal of $15 billion. Yes, $15 BILLION, in the next several years. You can’t reach those goals without a solid base, and you’d be foolish to project those numbers without expectations of growth over the next several years.

But the sad truth on the business of baseball is, the average fan is a 53 year old white guy. While I’m not suggesting being 53 nor white nor male is an issue, but it is an issue for baseball. While yes, a male over 40 is more likely to spend money on baseball (purchasing tickets, purchasing extra packages, etc) the league is missing the boat with the younger, cord-cutting generation.

At this point, baseball is earning a larger chunk of their revenue from media, whether it is TV, radio, or apps/subscription services. With attendance continuing to decline (there’s been a decline in attendance in eight consecutive seasons) baseball is relying more and more on media revenues and subscription services. More importantly, teams are relying more on these revenue streams.

But when you have archaic TV broadcast lines, such as baseball has, they shoot themselves in the foot with millennial and other’s that are cutting the cord. As is, a Cubs fan in East St Louis, IL. cannot tune in a Cubs game on a regular basis. Heck, a fan in Livingston county (Illinois) can run into blackout restrictions at times.

As much as MLB is missing the boat due to the blackout rules, and it does, there is another way baseball is missing the boat on attracting a younger fan base. This is something Bigcat, Alex Rodriguez, and Gary Vaynerchuk talked about just this recently.

Gary hits this thing on the head. I have been an advocate of trying to get Mike Trout on every billboard and finding a way to get Los Angeles Angels games in prime time in New York, but this was wrong. The answer is marketing the guys that will attract fans to the game. Players like Javier Baez.

“Javier Baez is charismatic as fuck!” Gary told Arod and BigCat.

His idea is to offer additional media opportunities to the guys people will actually pay to watch. Get Baez on more video, get Francisco Lindor on a media platform, get a Joe Maddon on podcasts. Highlight the guys that just naturally, charismaticly, can market themselves – BY BEING THEMSELVES. Let’s not force Trout into changing who he is to market the game. Just let Trout do his thing on the field, and let the guys that are attractive to a younger generation – do their thing.

There is no reason the NBA should be worth more than the MLB.

Baseball absolutely needs to start telling stories again. Baseball needs to start marketing the guys that we see web gems of, and putting their lives in our living rooms. They need to follow that young charismatic Dominican player back to the DR when the season is over and show his offseason. Show his family. Show how they prepare for the season.

Hell, follow several of them. Can you imagine a “reality show” on MLB Network, or a show only available on the MLB TV app and it follows Baez and Lindor in the offseason!? Tell me you wouldn’t pay $5.99 a month for that access!?

Baseball, while they have had the best online media of any organization, which is why BAMTech sold for $2.58 billion. They have absolutely messed up how to get that app and that access into the hands of the fans – both hardcore and casual. Use that app for your good baseball. Please.

Jamie Baker

Hi, I’m Jamie and I run this site. I’ve published work on multiple other sites and through that experience I decided to create CHICAGO style SPORTS. We truly aim to speak for the Chicago fan. Additionally, as a member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) you can be assured that all content you read will be written with incredible integrity.

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