By Diane M. Grassi
Now that the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) post-season is in full swing, what better time than to revisit the access fans have to attend MLB games?
It has been the norm over the past decade or so for the haves and have-nots being the new normal during the playoffs, and fans’ access to tickets including the league division series, the World Series and now the expanded Wild Card games.
By Diane M. Grassi
As we enter the final weeks of the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, unlike other impending off seasons in recent years, this will be of the collective bargaining kind.
A FAIR PROCESS TO BECOMING A TEAM OWNER?
By Diane M. Grassi
“Somebody’s property being seized was un-American. There are core values in this country and fairness is one of them…..I think everyone deserves a second chance.”
– Los Angeles Dodgers owner, Frank McCourt (April 2011)
So – is Major League Baseball (MLB) still as American as apple pie? It largely depends upon its commissioner’s preferences at the time, who serves at the behest of MLB’s 30 team owners.
The question needs to be asked as to whether the presiding Commissioner of MLB, Bud Selig, makes such major decisions such as on team ownership based upon sound business acumen or subjective reasoning influenced by his personal relationships, such as with specific MLB team owners or individuals who potentially could become owners.
By Diane M. Grassi
The 2010 thoroughbred horse racing season has seen its Triple Crown races pass, yet thoroughbred racing fans can still look ahead to some key summer races such as the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Track in upstate NY this August, and of course the Breeder’s Cup World Championships in the first weekend of November, to be held for the first time at Churchill Downs. So, we will now see the end of the 2010 thoroughbred racing season in the same venue in which it began, for a historic first.
By Diane M. Grassi
“See the USA in your Chevrolet…,” was once as much a theme song for the American leisure lifestyle as it was an advertisement for one of General Motor’s (GM) most celebrated automobiles. And not to be overlooked is the relationship that the auto industry, and more specifically GM, has forged with Major League Baseball (MLB) over the past many decades.
The Pittsburgh Pirates now have the sole distinction of signing two non-drafted free agents from India. Not only are the players the first Indian-born signed players from that country by MLB, but also for any other major league sport outside of India.
What MLB did not foresee, much like its compatriots on Wall Street who bought up valueless mortgages, and pimped them off as viable commodities, was that such actions would have such a deleterious impact on their baseball revenues come next season, just a few months from now.
It was revealed that NYC on behalf of the NY Yankees, is seeking relief from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to receive a special waiver from a law that the IRS amended in 2006 concerning the amount of tax-exempt bonds that may be allotted for the public financing of sports stadium facilities. And any net gains will come at the expense of taxpayers.