Last year, attendance at America’s pastime dropped below 73m for the first time since 2002, and in an effort to speed the game up, it actually got slower, with new rules like umpire reviews, and still no rules regarding how long a pitcher can stand on the mound picking his butt.
But, according to Forbes, a spike in revenue last year made the average MLB team worth 7% more this year at $1.6B.
How?
The Miami Marlins perfectly encapsulate the league’s new hope for where the game’s heading.
With the team’s payroll slashed from $140m to around $97m in 2018, a laughable 2017 revenue almost $100m below league average, and consistently god awful attendance, the team has long been a black sheep franchise.
Yet, Bruce Sherman bought them for $1.2B last year — up from $158m the outgoing owner paid for the team in 2002 — all because of what the team could be worth in the future.
Revenue last year was up from more television output, and hefty sponsorship money — and this year, it’s all about the kids.
With a new Facebook streaming deal, and a game held in Little League mecca, Williamsport, PA, last year, commissioner Rob Manfred has helped put money back into the game and harvested new interest from younger fans.