Didn�t MLB set an all time attendance record last year?

Yes. Last year the total attendance was 74,915,268.

2004: 72,968,953
2003: 67,630,052

Baseball is doing great, money-wise and attendance-wise.

I will also argue that it is much more exciting now with the recent emphasis on "small ball" and pitching ala the World Champion White Sox.

As soon as Bonds is sent out to pasture, the game will rebound even more.

Bhoe, you might have some figures to show otherwise, but I�m fairly confident that in the time that James and I have followed the Braves they have actually increased in value.

Dave, Let me clarify. All of the data is from Forbes. I was initially referring to the period between 2003-2004, where their value went from $423 mil to $374 mil. I just found more recent figures: 2005=$382. 2006=$405. SO they are on an upward swing in terms of valuation, but they still havent hit 2002 levels.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/17/06mlb_baseball_valuations_charts.html?index=12

I�m not sure that the selling price of franchises is an indication of much of anything other than the scarcity of the resource.

James, I wasn't talking about selling price. Forbes estimates each franchise's value (in various professional sports) each year for their ranking. They are only estimates, but I think the folks at Forbes have pretty fair--they use the team's earnings, debt and stadium deals to determine their valuation rankings.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/17/06mlb_baseball_valuations_land.html

As a fantasy sports junkie (I'm in four different fantasy baseball leagues), I find this move ill-advised.

James Joyner:

While MLB has a legitimate legal case here, this is just another instance of sheer stupidity on the part of the league ....

As to the Braves, they're still competitive. I'm not mad at the team and still try to follow them, including getting out to some games when they visit the Nats. The problem is that they went from something like 125 games a year on TBS to something like 50. That takes non-regional fans out of the natural rhythm of the game. And I don't blame the Braves' owners for doing that, as it's the only way to put the money back into payroll under the current system.

In the end, it's all about the fans, and owners and atheletes need to remember that. Without the fans, the sport goes back to somebody's back yard.

While MLB has a legitimate legal case here...

On what basis do you claim they have a legitimate legal case? Based on the case law (if so, what case law?), or based on your own personal sense of what is fair?

I'm not sure that the selling price of franchises is an indication of much of anything other than the scarcity of the resource. Plus, you have phenomena like the virtually worthless Montreal Expos moving to DC and selling for $700 million because buying a big league sports franchise is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Baseball, in particular, needs all the help it can get in this regard. Not only is the plague of steroids undermining the integrity of the numbers that make the game connect with a past in a way no other sport can, but the slow play over a 162 game regular season is a hard sell in a broadband world.

I am not sure what you are basing this on.

Professional sports are a business and, according to Forbes, average MLB team values have increased 15% for the second consecutive year.

Compare that to American football which only rose 12% last year and the NBA which only rose 9%.

Of course, no franchise in the world compares to Manchester United, valued at $1.3 billion.

I think your experience, James, might be more attributible to the fact that you follow the Braves and they have been one of the few franchises to actually lose valuation. This is a problem with the Braves--not with the league as a whole.