Major League Baseball to Drop Two Teams
CHICAGO -- Major League Baseball owners here Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to authorize Baseball Commissioner Allan H. Selig to begin the process of contracting two teams prior to the start of the 2002 season.
The Commissioner's Office will complete negotiations with the potentially affected clubs and immediately begin bargaining the effects of contraction with the Major League Baseball Players Association, including details of the dispersal of players prior to the beginning of Spring Training.
The franchises proposed for contraction will not be identified, pending the completion of the negotiations with the clubs as well as the resolution of other details, such as minor league affiliations, notification of employees and scheduling. All of these details can be resolved in time for implementation for next season.
'It makes no sense for Major League Baseball to be in markets that generate insufficient local revenues to justify the investment in the franchise,' Selig said. 'The teams to be contracted had a long record of failing to generate enough revenues to operate a viable Major League franchise.'
For example, there is one club with local revenues that are less then eight percent of the local revenues of those generated by the top club, and less than 18 percent of the industry average.
'This action, though difficult, should not surprise anyone who is familiar with the economics of the game,' Commissioner Selig said. 'Our industry has significant financial problems that we are trying to address in a myriad of ways. Contraction is one step toward addressing the industry's problem.'
While Major League Baseball has not ruled out the possibility of relocation as an additional step, it is not a practical solution at this time because there exists no prospective market that meets the desired requirements for fielding a stable, competitive and economically viable franchise for next season.
Commissioner Selig said: 'The problems facing the potentially affected teams will not be resolved by either changing ownership or changing location. Merely transferring existing problems to another ownership group or another city would only exacerbate the problem, not resolve it. We will continue to review relocation as a long-term solution as we work to stabilize the industry's economics. After long and arduous study, we have determined that there is no other acceptable current solution but to contract two teams.'
For further information, please contact:
MLB Communications Office
Tel: +1 212 931 7500
Fax: +1 212 949 5795
www.mlb.com
The Commissioner's Office will complete negotiations with the potentially affected clubs and immediately begin bargaining the effects of contraction with the Major League Baseball Players Association, including details of the dispersal of players prior to the beginning of Spring Training.
The franchises proposed for contraction will not be identified, pending the completion of the negotiations with the clubs as well as the resolution of other details, such as minor league affiliations, notification of employees and scheduling. All of these details can be resolved in time for implementation for next season.
'It makes no sense for Major League Baseball to be in markets that generate insufficient local revenues to justify the investment in the franchise,' Selig said. 'The teams to be contracted had a long record of failing to generate enough revenues to operate a viable Major League franchise.'
For example, there is one club with local revenues that are less then eight percent of the local revenues of those generated by the top club, and less than 18 percent of the industry average.
'This action, though difficult, should not surprise anyone who is familiar with the economics of the game,' Commissioner Selig said. 'Our industry has significant financial problems that we are trying to address in a myriad of ways. Contraction is one step toward addressing the industry's problem.'
While Major League Baseball has not ruled out the possibility of relocation as an additional step, it is not a practical solution at this time because there exists no prospective market that meets the desired requirements for fielding a stable, competitive and economically viable franchise for next season.
Commissioner Selig said: 'The problems facing the potentially affected teams will not be resolved by either changing ownership or changing location. Merely transferring existing problems to another ownership group or another city would only exacerbate the problem, not resolve it. We will continue to review relocation as a long-term solution as we work to stabilize the industry's economics. After long and arduous study, we have determined that there is no other acceptable current solution but to contract two teams.'
For further information, please contact:
MLB Communications Office
Tel: +1 212 931 7500
Fax: +1 212 949 5795
www.mlb.com