Orioles sign another catcher, pitcher to MiLB deals

[George Zuverink]

On 12/20/2021 at 5:29 PM, Sports Guy said:

In this model, fans are essentially stockholders.  Obviously not the same definition but they are ones watching, spending money, etc…but you also have to remember the context in which we are discussing it.

The term often used in business that would apply to baseball fans is “stakeholders.”

[spiritof66]

On 12/20/2021 at 5:29 PM, Sports Guy said:

In this model, fans are essentially stockholders.  Obviously not the same definition but they are ones watching, spending money, etc…but you also have to remember the context in which we are discussing it.

I just don't get it, and that's OK. Maybe I don't see what you mean by "essentially stockholders." If the fans are stockholders, what are Peter Angelos and the limited partners who own the team?

I don't see how baseball fans are different from consumers of other companies that sell or lease goods and services -- pro wrestling fans, McDonald's customers, Best Buy Geek Squad members, supermarket buyers, car buyers and lessors. The only differences I see are that (1) MLB has no competition of comparable quality, largely because of the absurd preservation of MLB's antitrust "exemption," and (2) for more than a century, major league owners (and, more recently, other pro sports team owners) have convinced city and state governments that attracting and retaining sports teams is valuable to civic pride and to local/regional economies, inducing those governments to fork over hundreds of millions of dollars to build and improve stadia and surrounding infrastructure, and in a sense making those governments and taxpayers additional customers of the team -- though it's often unclear what they're getting back for their tax dollars.