(American Spectator) — Now that the baseball season has ended with a stunning victory by the Astros, two things are obvious.
One — baseball is beginning to make a comeback. As NFL rating continue to plummet, more and more viewers are rediscovering our national pastime as an alternative to football. For the second year in a row, the World Series has achieved higher ratings than Sunday Night Football. It’s a small step, but it’s certainly a shift.
Two — baseball as a business is booming. Major League Baseball is estimated to have revenues of over ten billion dollars a year. The average player salary is over $4 million, and the highest-paid players earn in excess of $20 million a year — not counting the $100 per day in meal money they receive.
Why is this the case? How is it that even mediocre players can make this much and owners of consistently losing franchises still profit? How did our national pastime become such a big business?
