ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Major League Baseball will consider going back to having players wear their team uniforms for the All-Star Game.
Club uniforms were used by the American League from 1933-2019 and by the National League from 1934-2019. When the game resumed in 2021 following the pandemic-related cancellation in 2020, MLB had started a uniform contract with Nike and Fanatics, and All-Stars were outfitted in specially designed league uniforms that drew criticism from traditionalists.
This year's AL uniforms had a sandy base with red sleeves and lettering and the NL had a navy base with light blue sleeves and lettering.
“I’m aware of the sentiment on this issue,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday. "I think where my head is on it, it’s something we’re going to have a conversation about coming out of the All-Star Game. We've got a lot of uniform things going on. And, obviously, the conversations have to involve the players first and foremost but Nike, some of our partners. But I am aware of the sentiment, and I do know why people kind of like that tradition."
MLB and Nike were criticized for club uniforms this year and said in May that 2025 club outfits will have larger lettering on the back of jerseys and individual pant customization. Players complained this year that white pants worn by some teams are see-through enough to show tucked-in jersey tops.
Manfred said a national steaming package of local television broadcasts is a future possibility.
“I could see a situation where we grow into a 30-club model. It might start on the digital side, where you have 14 or 15 clubs, and, you start with a digital product there as your first alternative,” he said.
“I was in Sun Valley last week and I did the whole speed-dating thing with everybody who’s ever streamed anything. When you talk to people in the streaming business, they’re not really interested in buying the state of Wisconsin and two counties in Michigan," Manfred added. "They want to be able to stream quite frankly, all over the U.S. and Canada but more broadly internationally. So I think those conversations are a product of owners saying, holy cow, the RSN business is really deteriorating. We know the future’s going to be streaming. What we’re hearing from the streamers is they want a more national product, and we need to be responsive to what people want to buy.”
MLB took over production of Arizona and San Diego local television broadcasts last year following the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports’ Bally networks and said MLB will be available as an option for teams looking for new deals. He said Padres game are approaching 40,000 subscribers, which he called a good figure.
“Having said that, from a revenue perspective it is not generating what the RSNs did," Manfred said. "The RSNs were a great business. Lots of people paid for programing they didn’t necessarily want. And it’s hard to replicate that kind of revenue absent that kind of bundling concept.”
While offense is near half-century lows, it has picked up from early in the season.
“The decline in offense is something that we’re paying a lot of attention to and we’ll continue to monitor to make a decision as to whether we think we need to do something. You do hear a lot of chatter about the dominance of pitching in the game. That’s absolutely true.”
After the success of the June 20 game between San Francisco and St. Louis at Rickwood Field, Manfred said MLB will return to the ballpark in Birmingham, Alabama, but the “exact form” had not been determined.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
National League's Shohei Ohtani, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, walks on to the field before the MLB All-Star baseball game, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The booming business of the NFL will now be open for more business.
League owners voted their carefully crafted approval of private equity in club ownership, putting in place a provisional new rule on Tuesday that lets certain firms buy up a stake of up to 10% in any of the 32 franchises that have soared in value over the past few decades like few other industries.
At a special meeting in Minnesota, nine days before the regular-season opener, owners for the first time opened their teams to institutional investment after previously prohibiting it. Other major American sports leagues allow as much as 30% holdings by private equity firms, and it's also a common practice in international soccer.
“It’s an access to capital that has been interest to us for a long time,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said after the session at the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel, which sits across from the headquarters of the Minnesota Vikings. “I think it’s an appropriate thing to give teams that liquidity to reinvest in the game and to their teams.”
The NFL with this vote permitted only four different groups to enter the arena: standalone firms Arctos Partners, Ares Management Corporation and Sixth Street, plus a consortium of five funds — Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity and Ludis. The approved list could well be extended in the future, but these selections from the initial vetting process were made based on having the cash ready to go right away.
Ludis was founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin, who spearheaded the collaboration as part of his effort to include minority race investors in NFL ownership positions.
“This is something that we’ve long fought for and tried to find ways to encourage that,” Goodell said.
In addition to the 10% private equity cap, there were other guardrails established. Multiple funds can account for the 10%, but there's a 3% minimum investment for each. Each purchase must be held for a minimum of six years. There's a maximum of six teams that each of the approved funds can invest in, and no more than 20% of each fund can go to one NFL club. No individual investor can own more than 7.5% of a fund. Also, league owners and their families are allowed to invest their own wealth in these funds, but only up to 3% of them.
The NFL let MLB, MLS and the NBA and NHL go ahead on this front, content to take notes in a cautious approach with a steadfast goal of preserving the parameters of the single-owner structure that has seen several of its prominent franchises stay in the same family for generations. Controlling owners must own at least 30% of the team, and no more than 25 owners can be part of an ownership group.
“We tried to talk to people who we think were in the know,” Goodell said. “We were patient on this.”
Since the study was initiated five years ago, the Denver Broncos ($4.65 billion) and Washington Commanders ($6.05 billion) have been sold in further illustration of the opportunity for current owners to liquify portions of their teams. These increasingly expensive and complicated transactions have also become more difficult for prospective owners without potential cash boosts from private equity firms.
The process accelerated a year ago, and a special committee on ownership policy was created including Kansas City's Clark Hunt, Denver's Greg Penner, New England's Robert Kraft, Cleveland's Jimmy Haslam and Atlanta's Arthur Blank.
“The support today in the room was very strong for this decision,” Penner said. “One thing that was really important was giving owners a different option for capital sources but at the same time maintaining how we operate.”
There's no reason for fans to be concerned that this new source of potential investors will affect any football operations, the league said.
“All it is is a silent position that would allow access to capital for those teams that wish to offer 10% of their team,” Goodell said. “They will not be in any kind of decision-making influence in any way.”
The stipulations also entitle the league to a portion of the proceeds from each sale, Goodell confirmed.
“The private equity firms that participated in this absolutely understood and expected that the NFL would have a collective participation in this,” he said.
Naturally, a league with a stated goal of soon reaching $25 billion in annual revenue is not going to make an unsound financial decision.
“I know this: This is good for anybody that's in love with the NFL, any part of it,” Dallas owner Jerry Jones said.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces a pick during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, April 28, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)
Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt speaks on behalf of the NFL's special committee on ownership policy in Eagan, Minn., Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Campbell)
