Bleeding Yankee Blue: A POST PANDEMIC EXPANSION COULD BE JUST WHAT MLB NEEDS!

Monday, May 25, 2020

A POST PANDEMIC EXPANSION COULD BE JUST WHAT MLB NEEDS!

I wish we could get a do-over for 2020. I am good if anyone has a time machine and can send us back to December 31st, 2019 at 11:59pm and we can try all of this again. Wishful thinking. Americans and Major League Baseball have both felt the pinch where it hurts the most....in our wallets.

Credit: Lookout Landing

Sure, we can't compare MLB to Americans because that's like comparing apples and oranges but we've all lost some money and Rob Manfred says that if 2020 is a lost season, owners could lose up to $4 billion dollars, read that HERE. We've lost almost two full months of games so the owners and players union need to get this salary dispute resolved but even after that....there is still work to do.

MLB is going to look to get back as much money as possible, so they will be creative. I'm not just talking about new ticket packages to entice fans or restructured tv and radio deals....I'm talking NEW money, like new teams. What about an expansion?

And why not? An expansion is very lucrative. Franchise fees are at an all-time high and it has recently worked for the NHL. The NHL expanded in 2017 after a $500 million expansion fee was paid and the Vegas Golden Knights were born. The NHL will do it again in 2021, Seattle's unnamed franchise cost $650 million and will be exciting to watch. Granted, the NHL and MLB are also like comparing apples and oranges because NHL values are a lot lower BUT it brought new energy to the NHL. The #Vegasborn fans have really embraced their new team, have a brand and have been successful. This could work for MLB again, they've done it before!

Expansion #1

In 1959 baseball executive Branch Rickey saw an opportunity to establish a THIRD major league called The Continental League (CL). Rickey thought the American League and National League was not inclusive enough and isolated some markets. There was a lot of change in baseball at the time after both the Dodgers and Giants left New York for the West Coast. Maybe we would have a Continental League today but MLB caught on and decided to come up with their own strategy...an expansion that stopped the creation of the CL. They expanded into markets the the CL was targeting. It took several years but it eventually resulted in new teams in Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Montreal, Kansas City and Seattle.

Expansion #2

Expansion worked well in most markets, but Seattle struggled in its first season that it eventually went bankrupt and the franchise was moved to Milwaukee to become what we know as the Brewers. The move created a legal battle and Washington State sued MLB for violating contracts. MLB lost a high dollar lawsuit but managed to keep their money when they agreed to expand again and give Seattle another franchise. To keep an even amount of teams the Toronto Blue Jays also were created in this expansion. This allowed MLB to pocket a lot of franchise fees and kept them from paying Seattle a large sum of money.

Expansion #3

Collusion is involved in the third expansion. The 1980's were a competitive time in baseball and free agency was not lucrative to players. Remember the 2018 offseason? The mid to late 80's is a similar comparison. Remember how long it took Manny Machado and Bryce Harper to sign? Not quite the same idea but baseball's biggest names in the mid to late 80's were not getting contracts. Free agency was dead. Commissioner Peter Uebberoth and MLB owners had a standing agreement to not sign free agents. The players union took their fight to an arbitrator who sided with the players union. MLB's punishment was a $280 million fine to be paid to the union and the players that were directly affected. To avoid the large fine, another expansion was created and the Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks were born. The franchise fees involved here more than covered the settlement.

So MLB has a history of expansion when times are tough. No matter what the final price tag may be for 2020 owners are going to look for a way to recover some of those funds. Franchise fees have only increased throughout history, so who knows what they could be now and that could give each team some money back.

Maybe Expansion #4 is on its way. I think we could grow to 32 teams. The question is where will these new teams go? Since hockey is working in Vegas, could they get an MLB team also? Or what about Nashville? I could see it. I've seen Portland mentioned a lot too. MLB has a history of using expansion to payback debts, so why not do it again post Pandemic? The possibilities are endless.