On the morning of the slowest sports day of the year, a report has surfaced that Rob Manfred sees expansion in MLB’s future.
“Maybe one of the reasons I got this job is, I’m bullish on this game,” Manfred said. “I think we are a growth business, broadly defined. And over an extended period of time, growth businesses look to get bigger. So yeah, I’m open to the idea that there will be a point in time where expansion may be possible.”
So it’s not like this possible expansion is going to happen next season. In fact, it seems like it’s at least a decade down the road. I’m sure expansion would only mean more money for the league (they wouldn’t do it otherwise). I am not questioning whether or not it would be profitable. What I’m questioning is whether or not this is what Manfred and the execs at MLB should be concerning themselves with.
Baseball has not had expansion since 1998 when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks came into the league. Since then the league has flourished in both revenue and game attendance, but has definitely had some recent dips in TV ratings and popularity among the younger viewers. This week, for the first time in years, MLB got something right with the Home Run Derby (even if it was by chance). They added a timed element to the HRD that made for a better and more exciting product while still showcasing the freakishly good talent baseball currently has in the game. The derby was not bigger or longer; it was shorter and more concise, and thus more exciting. They narrowed the playing field to 8 of the best hitters in the game and the results did not disappoint. My point is that bigger is not always better.
Some of the proposed locations for MLB expansion are Montreal, Charlotte, San Antonio, Portland, OR, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, northern New Jersey (ha!), Mexico City, and Monterrey, Mexico. Montreal already had a team from the late 1960’s through 2004, but baseball struggled significantly in Montreal after the 1994 strike. None of those other proposed cities have ever had major league teams, but some currently have and have had minor league affiliates. Some also have other professional franchises that do very well, but that does not necessarily mean a Major League Baseball team would automatically do well in that market. Others (I’m looking at you, northern New Jersey) are already in major baseball markets. The idea of a new team going into the Tri-State area and competing in popularity with the Yankees and Mets, the leftover Dodgers and Giants fans, and the sprinkling of Red Sox and Phillies fans is laughable. Not to mention how bad the product is when a new team enters the league. Do we really need an additional two teams diluting the on-field product, which is already facing criticism from casual baseball fans for being too boring? The answer is no.
The part of this report that I am intrigued with is the possibility of relocation. To me, that is more what MLB should be concerned with – tweaking the existing product to tailor it to the current environment. Let’s face it, teams like the Marlins and Rays do not draw fans. Those areas are filled with band-wagon sports fans and northern transplants who already have a rooting interest in their hometown team. I can actually see a change like Tampa moving to Montreal, for example, working. It kills two birds with one stone. Baseball is removed from a market that does not appreciate it and inserted into a market that wants it. They could leave the Rays in the AL East and also create a rivalry with the Blue Jays within Canada. Give them a French-sounding team name and call it a day. And as an added bonus, this would allow me to drive up to Montreal, an awesome city, to see a Yankees game.
I hope that Manfred sticks to what he’s been doing in his short time as commissioner, which is improving the product we already have. Changes like the ones made to the Home Run Derby, and other changes in the works like speeding up the time of the games are a step in the right direction for Major League Baseball. Adding new teams and getting bigger is not.
