That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary
OAKLAND–You will not see any baseball owners this Christmas,going through the garbage bins behind your local Safeway searching for food.
According to Forbes Magazine(the authority in financial matters), Major League Baseball established a record of over $8 billion in revenues this 2013 season.. According to this report, Major League Baseball will see revenue double for new broadcasts deals with national network partners; FOX, ESPN and TBS, that will add an additional $788.3 million a year to the league’s coffers.
Leading the way are the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the communications giant Time-Warner, with a broadcast rights deal of over 20 years between $7 to $8 billion, to be approved soon by Major League Baseball.
I know many have written the epitaph of Major League Baseball, specially since the National Football League has become the dominant league in America, but meanwhile, baseball has been prospering like never before. As a matter of fact, during the last 18 years, Major League Baseball have seen revenues grown by an incredible 264 percent.
Many fans that follow baseball have been amazed at the signings is this, off-season, beginning with the $240 million contract for 10 years the Seattle Mariners gave ex-Yankee second baseman Robinson Canó, if you are not a Red Sox fan, Canó is the best second baseman in baseball, if you are a Red Sox fan you will say Dustin Pedroia. But, joking aside, Robinson Canó is not only the best second baseman in baseball, but one of the very best players in the game today.
And there could be soon another big deal if Masahiro Tanaka is available to sign with a major league club. The pitcher was 24-0 with a 1.27 earned run average starting in 27 games for the Rakuten Eagles. The amazement comes not for guys like Canó, (although I believe to give a 31 year old player a 10-year deal for that money is crazy), but for the mediocre players that have been signings very lucrative contracts.
Granted, it has become such a large business, that teams sometimes keep players whose numbers have been dwindling, just because they are drawing cards to their parks. Best example, the $35 million contract for 2 years the San Francisco Giants gave pitcher Tim Lincecum.
The popularity of Major League Baseball was also helped by the MLB Network, a 24X7 only baseball channel, that covers the game as good as anybody, during the past decade they have provided great coverage, including during the off season, but especially during the regular season, when they cut to the live broadcast from game to game around both leagues. Giving you(the fan)a live and instant look at different games, key moments on those games, and history records, as they happen.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president for the Major League Baseball Hispanic Museum and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio
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