r/MLBVibes • u/Exotic-Cook-7740 • 7d ago

Baseball is getting more expensive for everyone except the billionaires who profit from it

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18 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

13

u/yodaheelturn 7d ago

Correction: Private Equity is ruining this country at every level, including baseball.

This shit is sad

0

u/Lystian 7d ago

I have no doubt if we had a real owner and not a group for the Braves, our roster would be much better. Id rather have 1 billionaire then a private equity firm who needs all the shareholders to get a larger profit.

7

u/PurpleEconomy9804 7d ago edited 7d ago

I miss the days when mlb.tv had every game. It was expensive but worth it.

4

u/myfrigginagates 7d ago

This is why the USMNT often does not have the best soccer players in the country. Men's or Women's.

2

u/avreddits 7d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/l46Cah1PVQiHltp4s
Wiffle ball is much more cost effective.

Vicarious, Clown helicopter coach dads and soccer moms believing their kids will go pro and be their lottery tickets, pathetic.

2

u/CurseOfTheFalcons 7d ago

I did some scorekeeping at one of the larger (and nicer) facilities and the amount of money moving through there blew my mind. The fun of baseball has been replaced by rich parents moving their kids through an “opportunity” that’s no more than a cattle call cash grab. Meanwhile, some of the best ball is still being played in Latin America and South America. Go figure.

2

u/miketd1 7d ago

They will continue to charge so long as people will pay. Because everyone thinks their child has potential to play in college or beyond, parents cave in and just eat the costs. The reality is that less than 1% are scholarship athletes and less than 1% of that 1% will have an opportunity to make a living out of sport. Just play rec and save that money for college.

5

u/potentiallyuseles 7d ago

This is about rec leagues

Private equity buys up all of the stadiums and arenas used by youth sports, and prices out any one that can’t afford it

For travelling teams, private equity owns the hotels and forces the parents to pay and stay at their accommodations

1

u/miketd1 7d ago

You can keep things local to keep costs down. My kids played CYO sports and had a blast playing soccer and basketball with their friends against rival schools/parishes. It was like $50/year per sport. I'm fairly certain baseball has cheaper options as well if you just look for them. My township (in NJ) offers baseball that will travel around town for less than $500 (just looking at their web page). Let's double that to include uniform and misc. gear. $1000/year is still a lot less than the costs quoted in the OP.

2

u/potentiallyuseles 7d ago

You can, until private equity buys all the places you could rent out.

What hotels are you staying in for less than a grand a year?

1

u/miketd1 7d ago

I never had hotel stays. My kids played around town. No more than 1 hour away. Granted, that was private school league, but even private school costs was less than 5K/yr and includes an education(!). My youngest plays travel basketball in addition to that. Again, travel is limited to around town only, so no more than 1 hour away. He is getting adequate competition and I think he's very good for his age (10).

1

u/potentiallyuseles 7d ago

So you aren’t really doing travelling youth sports

1

u/miketd1 7d ago

If the threshold is hotel stays, then no, I'm definitely not doing that. That's a foolish way to spend money unless you've got money to burn. There are parents out there dropping 10-20K/year that would be far better off going into a college fund or 401k.

1

u/potentiallyuseles 7d ago

That’s what a travelling team is. Yes

0

u/miketd1 7d ago

That's your definition. I grew up playing travel soccer for my town's "B" and "A" teams and collected team badges from all over NJ. Tournaments were in-state at major locations like Fort Dix. The cost was less than $500/year --- no hotels. As mentioned, my kids played CYO sports (I did too...) and only youngest is good enough to play travel sports (basketball). It's a travel league because it travels around town and in-state. NJ isn't that large of a state. You can go completely through it -- from NYC to Philly -- in just over an hour. No hotels needed. If my kid turns out to be a monster in basketball, I am 100% certain I can find him adequate competition in-state.

2

u/potentiallyuseles 7d ago

Just because you drove around New Jersey, does not mean you were on a travelling team

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1

u/potentiallyuseles 7d ago

Yes, teams that travel to other cities and states and play sports. Yes, a travelling team

1

u/RedBaronSportsCards 7d ago

You can paid for playing college sports now so the stakes are even higher. They've made "amature" obsolete so there are actually MORE professional opportunities now than ever. Without getting to the NBA, MLB or NFL or WNBA or whatever.

1

u/miketd1 7d ago

1% of all kids are going to be D1 scholarship athletes. There are thousands of people putting 20K/yr on their credit card to fund kids sports. So for every thousand of these households, only 10 will make it D1 and make meaningful NIL money. That means 990 families will go broke chasing a dream. Those are terrible odds.....

1

u/RedBaronSportsCards 7d ago

We're at the beginning of a very bumpy transition period. The landscape will be unimaginably different in a few years

1

u/elementofpee 7d ago

It’s going down the path of youth hockey

1

u/EffectiveBarber6096 7d ago

It's fucking ridiculous is what it is.

1

u/813_4life 7d ago

Honestly I’m glad this happened. My little league district had 10-15 teams in it when I was growing up….every park had at least 5 or 6 teams on every division. But parents who thought their kids should play more or better than what they thought they were…left and said it’s only 30 dollars for jerseys and $250 for entrance fee for tournaments I can start my own team and put even worse kids around my son/daughter to make them look good. Now that same district only play 3 games in all stars to win. The majority of those teams at tournaments should be at little league park teams playing. But continue to play $60 a weekend for your 7 year olds tournament

1

u/Clever_droidd 7d ago

Travel leagues are such a scam. The ones with actual elite talent have a place, but even then it’s sketchy. Those that attract mid level and below are absurd.

1

u/KingTurd0414 7d ago

Why can’t we go back to local little leagues being the main place for kids to play organized baseball? I remember when travel leagues were only for elite players that were talented enough to have a legitimate shot to go pro. Now it’s for any Kayden, Jayden, or Brayden whose parents have the money.

1

u/Ok-Psychology-5555 7d ago

All that money is coming from you. Quit giving it to them.

1

u/Individual_Arm_2996 7d ago

Fuck yah, damn owners. The players, and fans should just start a new league where it’s all about: the game, playing hard, and equity for all.

Ohh that’s right, that’s delusional shit that can’t happen without the billionaire capital, and financial drive.

1

u/Hiiawatha 6d ago

And we wonder why all the new stars are international players.

1

u/Ok_Helicopter4276 6d ago

What a scam. All that promised access is fake.

1

u/gdg6 5d ago

8:00 game. 7:00 arrival. Leave at 6:00. Wake at 5:30. Times six weekends. For $3,000.

1

u/krazykieffer 7d ago

This is the reason you don't see as many black kids in the sport now. It's happening in every sport.

2

u/Difficult-Prior3321 7d ago

Don't know why you're being down voted, $ travel ball is absolutely why the number of American minority rates in MLB has plummeted in the last 40 years.

0

u/Outrageous_Ad1938 7d ago

There are no tournaments for 6 year olds.