For all its naysayers, the business of baseball continues to be a business marvel. Now under Commissioner Rob Manfred, the game draws millions across the country has one of the most dynamic digital platforms in any business and its own television network 24/7. Like most mature businesses, baseball is trying to find its way to get faster and younger and more ethnically diverse, but those problems do not slow down the pace, or the amount of business done in and around the game itself.
There was a time not too long ago where the sport was at its crossroads, from a spiraling steroid issue to work stoppages, baseball had its issues as a viable business. That crossroad and all its players, are examined in great detail in a new book by Jon Pessah, called “The Game.” From George Bush to George Steinbrenner, Mark McGuire to Marge Schott, Pessah sets the stage and builds the platform for all the business drama that unfolded as baseball found its footing again, and rebuilt itself into the massive sports property it is today.
We caught up with Pessah, a founding editor of ESPN the Magazine and Pulitzer Prize nominee, to talk about the book, the game and all its players of recent past and present.
When doing all the research for the book, what was the one thing you uncovered that surprised even you?
Commissioner Bud Selig’s unique ability to always believe what he was saying, even when he changed the story within the hour. This is not a cheap shot. Selig truly believes what he wants to believe, and it made him a formidable opponent.
George Steinbrenner is one of the key figures in the narrative. If he were still alive and active today, how would the world of MLB be different than it is now?
For one, it would be a whole lot more interesting. For better or worse, George always made headlines. I don’t know that he could have managed the Yankees out of their “icon” stage better than his son Hal has done; it a difficult task for anyone. But The Boss knew how to maximize his asset—from merchandizing to television rights and more—and the rising tide of Yankee business lifted the rest of MLB’s boats. Contrary to what his friend Bud Selig often said, The Boss was very good for business.
Should the role of the Commissioner be as all powerful as it is or was in MLB?
I think Selig made his office so powerful because he was such a gifted retail politician—he knew how to work each other, manage information, and cut backroom deals. He also made his constituency—the game’s 30 ownership groups—an awful lot of money, which won him great support. Rob Manfred will have to work long and hard to approach the broad range of influence Selig had.
Given all your time around Bud Selig, how different do you think MLB will be going forward with Rob Manfred now in charge, if at all?
Selig’s management style, especially in the final decade of his 23-year tenure, was neither transparent nor inclusive. Prime example: find one owner who knows how much Selig spent on the Mitchell Report, essentially a damage-control document to keep the blame away from management—especially the Commissioner. Rob Manfred will run a far more transparent operation—for the owners—and he has already made sure that every team is on at least three baseball committees. I think the game will also be quicker to respond to changes in market, such as pace of game and expanded instant replay. And Rob will actively promote youth baseball—something Selig rarely did—which is why you saw Manfred at last year’s the Little League World Series.
Of all the owners who played into the storylines of the book, which one was the most underused in the CBA process?
Without question, George Steinbrenner. He may have had a direct line to Selig, but Bud spent much of the past two decades reaching deeper and deeper into George’s pockets on revenue sharing. Steinbrenner understood the need for revenue sharing; what he could not tolerate were owners who took his money and banked it instead of putting it into their teams—which is still happening. Steinbrenner thought the current revenue sharing system penalized success and rewarded failure, and I think there is some truth to that, especially today.
Now that Donald Fehr has moved on to the NHLPA, is baseball as a business better off or worse off?
I think Don Fehr and his team did an excellent job balancing the war within ownership—big market vs. small market teams—with the best interests of the players, a balance that helped achieve labor peace and allowed the game to grow. On steroids, Fehr did not recognize the depth of the problem quickly enough. Fehr’s job wasn’t to police the players—not that he could ever tell the players what to do. His job was to be their lawyer and look after their collective best interests. Scandals that rocked the historical foundation of the sport most definitely were not in the best interests of the game’s players.
Of all the media companies you touch on in the book, why was the formation of YES so much of a game changer?
Just as free agency showed the players what they were worth on the open market, building a cable network around content—rather than simply selling the Yankees’ media rights—showed every owner the true value of their team. Not only will the YES Network bring in an average of $200 million for the next 28 years, it’s also an asset worth close to $4 billion. Today, just about every baseball team has a regional sports network bringing in rights fees while also building equity.
The issue of steroids came across almost by accident through a story in the LA Times. If MLB had jumped in right away, how different would the landscape of the business be today?
As I wrote in this book, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, then a young writer at the Los Angeles Times, wrote that story after hearing about steroids from his sources for several years. The story was all but ignored. How different would the business of baseball be today had management and/or the players taken action is a great question no one has really asked.
My best guess: baseball got a short-term boost from the surge in scoring and the assault on the record book. American sports fans love offense, and baseball fans are no different. I wrote about the Nike ad “Chicks Dig the Long Ball,” which was a huge hit in 1999. Home runs made baseball sexy and cool, a marketer’s dream.
But getting baseball off PEDs was poorly handled by management, which spent more time pointing fingers and less time taking care of its business. And the players are baseball’s business. I don’t condone breaking the law, nor give players who used PEDs a pass, but when MLB—especially the Commissioner—demonized the players, it wiped out almost an entire generation of stars.
That’s a big, big blow for a business built on history and its record book. Hall of Fame voting used to be a celebration; now it’s more like a prosecution. And when a current player puts up big numbers, like Baltimore’s Chris Davis did two years ago, speculation of steroid use is a given.
I think we need to wait a little longer to see if the short term bounce baseball received from steroids will outweigh the long-term damage.
The season-ending strike took a long time to recover from, with social media playing such a big role today, could baseball, or any sport, bounce back from an other massive work stoppage?
I’m tempted to say no, given the sheer volume of criticism that would come down on any entertainment business that chooses to shut its doors on a season—and keep them shut for 232 days. That said, it’s hard to see an institution like baseball, which has been and remains so ingrained in our culture, falling by the wayside. So, 51-49, in favor of survival.
What are the one or two things you want the reader to take away from this work?
I think most readers come to a book on baseball’s last two decades with a good idea how of they feel about this era’s stars and events: ’94 Strike and cancelled World Series, the Yankees dynasty, the Steroid Saga, George Steinbrenner, Bud Selig, Don Fehr, and too many stars to list. I spent five years living and reporting in this world, hoping to put readers behind the scenes so they have a more complete picture upon which to judge all that transpired. I think many readers will be surprised how they’ll feel when they finish this book. The reviewer from The Daily Beast, an avowed Red Sox fan, admitted coming away with a grudging respect for George Steinbrenner. That might just be a bit more than I expected.
Looking into where the business of MLB is now, with fantasy sports becoming such a big deal, how do you think gambling, legal gambling, will influence the business of baseball going forward, given the current leadership?
Baseball has always tip-toed around gambling, given the Black Sox and Pete Rose scandals. That said, Rob Manfred and today’s owners are pragmatists in a very competitive entertainment landscape. Gambling is clearly part of the attraction of pro football, and MLB is looking for any way it can maintain and expand its fan base. I think Manfred and MLB will cautiously proceed down the parallel paths of fantasy sports and legal gambling.
