Major League Baseball Business

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For over a century, fans have gathered to watch their favorite baseball team compete. Each fan may have a favorite team, and in that team they may choose their favorite player(s). These players are people that fans idolize, wishing they could be them. But, has professional baseball become more than one of America’s favorite pastimes? The MLB has become a business of trading and deals. Baseball is a “national pastime,” as referred to by Jules Tygiel (36). Being a “national pastime” means many people watch the professional sport, get involved in it, and follow their favorite teams. Tygiel describes the immense popularity that professional baseball has developed: No other common activity resonated so regularly and intensely in American life as [baseball] . . . Played virtually every day over a six-month span and tracked religiously in the mass media, baseball offered its partisans a steady diet of entertainment, drama, and controversy. Americans routinely interspersed their language with baseball metaphors. (36) As you can see, Americans cling to baseball as something they can participate in by keeping track of and fixing it to their lifestyles. As we all know, business is always followed by the money behind it. The owners of these major league teams know that good business makes them the most money. For an owner, being the best or “richest” is one of their top priorities. Owners know that it takes a lot of money to earn more money. Every business deal or transaction that a team owner makes is based on how much money or revenue that particular deal is going to make for their franchise. Some of these business deals include: trading players, buying players, recruiting/signing players, firing coaches, television deals, and contracts ... ... middle of paper ... ...9. Print. Lefton, Terry. "Global Grand Slam." Brandweek 40.39 (1999): 20. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Paige, Sean. "Professional Athletes as Role Models." Professional Sports. Ed. James D. Torr Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2003. 171-80. Print. Powell, Douglas S. "Is Big League Baseball Good Municipal Business?." American City & County 114.6 (1999): 78. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Schwarz, Alan. "An Entrepreneur Steps To The Plate." Newsweek 142.13 (2003): E26-E28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Torr, James D. Professional Sports. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2003. Print. Tygiel, Jules. "Baseball in American History." Professional Sports. Ed. James D. Torr. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2003. 29-37. Print. Veltrop, Kyle. "Absolute Power." Sporting News 228.43 (2004): 24-28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2013

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