Now, I realize I didn’t have enough time to say all of the following on the radio yesterday, but it sure would have been nice to get ANY of these points about fantasy baseball and the CDM lawsuit across while I was on the air.
The attempt by the MLB Player’s Association to charge fees for the use of statistics used for fantasy baseball games is about making money. I don’t think anyone will deny that fact, and I don’t have a problem with people wanting more money, no matter how much they already have. I think the MLBPA will lose this lawsuit, but they’re still making a nice profit from fantasy baseball.
Fantasy baseball has probably been the second biggest reason for baseball reclaiming its populatarity in America after the last strike, next to the ‘98 McGwire-Sosa Steroid-Off. Fantasy baseball causes participants to watch more games and follow players from other teams. Would MLB TV packages be as popular without fantasy baseball? Would mlb.tv even exist? Would there be as many fans to buy pre-season baseball magazines, jerseys, and tickets? All of those things put money in players’ pockets.
While losing this battle wouldn’t seem to leave the MLBPA any worse than where they were before, there are two reasons it could ending up biting them in the ass. First of all, they come off looking greedy and uncaring about the fans. Whether or not it’s fair, there aren’t many groups with as bad an image as guys who get paid millions of dollars to play a game. When the collective bargaining agreement needs to be renogiated, public opinion is certainly a chip at the bargaining table. If the public’s a little extra angry at the players, they may be forced to back off some issues.
Second, demanding fees for statistics and names will reduce the number of websites providing fantasy games to all but the biggest companies: ESPN, CBSSportsline, Yahoo, etc. Yes, those sites provide decent products, but how innovative are they? Do any of them have workable FAAB systems? How customizable are they? How’s their customer service? Eliminating the little sites eliminates fantasy innovation.
Baseball coverage is similar — most people get their news from large sites, but more involved fans recognize how boring (and often wrong) the mainstream media are. Blogs provides individualized approaches and are willing to take more risks. It seemed like ESPN.com would never includ DIPS ERA on its stats page, but it eventually caved — because other smaller sites were doing it and the demand for DIPS kept going up.
I don’t think, however, that eliminating the smaller, more niche websites will hurt fantasy involvement in the short run. People who like the more esoteric, complex games are already baseball fanatics. People just discovering fantasy baseball try a free Yahoo league, which will still be around. But in the long run, eliminating niche sites prevents low-level participants from becoming more obsessed and you better believe that obsession spreads. My interest in fantasy baseball has spread to many of my friends over the years.
I don’t know the law behind this issue. Maybe the MLBPA will make more money this way. I’d just like to see the variety of fantasy games stick around.
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.