The 2019 Forbes MLB team valuations are out and as always they are an interesting read. The average operating income for a MLB team in 2014 was $21 million and just four years later in 2018 it was $39.7 million per team. Every single MLB team is worth at least $1 billion.
Baseball Team Values 2019_ Yankees Lead League At $4.6 Billion
As much as I disagree that MLB players are overpaid, it seems that there is plenty of money to go around for ownership and the players. The only part of baseball that seems to get the short-end of the stick is the fans, who are forced to pay higher and higher prices every year for tickets and concessions.
I am guessing that now days MLB ticket revenue has to be a relatively small percentage of a team’s total revenue. So here is an out of the box proposal and I would try it with the Miami Marlins first to see how it would work. My reasoning to try it with the Marlins is because they are the lowest valued team, their attendance is terrible, the team is young and really has no fan base to speak of.
The proposal is that all tickets except for the suites are absolutely free. You show up at ballpark on a first come first serve basis and you get assigned a seat of your choice if it is not taken. I have to believe that there are baseball fans out there that want to go to MLB games but can’t afford the tickets. The revenue that the Marlins would lose would be small because no one goes to their games today anyway. Fans at the ballpark will buy concessions and start to follow their team. Free tickets would eliminate all those empty seats we see behind home plate when we watch a game on TV. The fan base for the Marlins would skyrocket if more fans could afford to watch them play. Attendance reported would once again mean something instead of tickets sold. The team might play better if they had some fans in the stands cheering them on versus playing in front of empty seats.
The Marlins might not be the Miami Marlins for much longer if things don’t change soon so why not give this a try? Eventually all MLB teams could eliminate fans needing to pay for tickets and major league baseball could be America’s pastime once again. Just think how popular baseball could become and how the Miami Marlins of all teams could lead the charge.
What do you say Mr. Manfred and Mr. Jeter?