MLB’sMajor League Baseball’s 2024 season is underway, and it's safe to say things haven’t been going well. It’s becoming clear that there’s a problem with league management.
With a disastrous uniform situation, blackouts that prevent fans from watching certain games and a slew of injuries to star pitchers, professional baseball looks like a bad product at the moment.
Rob Manfred – the MLB’s commissioner – is ultimately responsible for the sport’s failures. During his time in charge of the league, he inked deals with Nike and Fanatics, banned pitchers from using any sticky substances and failed to get rid of MLB TV blackouts.
One of the most recent issues in 2024 is baseball uniforms. Nike, in partnership with memorabilia company Fanatics, made changes to the uniforms that players wear during games.
As soon as the jerseys and pants were delivered to players, complaints from players started flooding in about the cheap quality and comfortability of the uniforms. Stitching and lettering have been changed, among other things. A Baltimore Orioles player even said they looked like “a knockoff jersey from T.J. Maxx,” according to the Baltimore Banner.
The new pants style is also see- through, which made for some awkward pictures that circulated social media. Tucked-in jerseys – and other things – can clearly be seen through the pants in some instances.
Just last week, Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene made a routine slide into home plate that ripped his pants. On top of all of this, distribution issues on Nike and Fanatics’ part have led to reports of teams being without certain uniforms to start the season.
Fanatics isn’t just guilty of its part in bad on-field uniforms – the deal Manfred signed with them gives them complete licensing over merchandise for fans. Due to the monopolymonopoly, it owns has over team merch, Fanatics charges extortionate prices for jerseys, shirts and hats.
While it’s hard for fans to get affordable team gear, it’s arguably even harder for them to simply watch the local team’s games. Due to MLB TV blackouts, fans in the broadcast area for a team are blocked from viewing those games. For example, most anyone in the Southeast U.S. can’t watch Braves games without buying an extremely expensive cable package.
Manfred’s failure to get rid of blackouts for local games, or those that are nationally televised, has madke it impossible for fans to watch games. In addition to this, the money-hungry commissioner has signed deals with a variety of streaming services like Apple TV+ and Peacock, meaning fans wanting to watch every MLB game would have to shell out for numerous services.
A video by YouTuber Foolish Bailey calculated that in 2023, it would cost a fan in the Atlanta area a cool $775 to have access to every MLB game that season. Most fans don’t have that type of cash lying around, especially younger ones.
For that price, fans have access to a product that isn’t looking great in 2024. Because of a combination of factors, including a push for throwing harder and faster than ever before, pitchers are getting hurt at insane rates. Spencer Strider, Shane Bieber, Eury Perez and others have already sustained serious elbow injuries this season.
The league’s star power is getting cut down quickly, and players have a variety of theories as to why – most of them have to do with Manfred.The league’s star power is getting cut down quickly, and players have various theories as to why – most of them are Manfred. Earlier this month, the MLB Players Association released a statement blaming the newly-introducednewly introduced pitch clock for injuries to pitchers.
In a video from 2021 that has recently resurfaced on social media, Tyler Glasnow blamed one of his injuries on Manfred banning the use of any sticky substances that help pitchers grip the ball better.
Although some pitchers took the use of sticky stuff too far, essentially using super glue, Manfred and MLB banned any sticky stuff. This happened despite many pitchers voicing concerns about the safety of a mid-season ban.
In 2024, some fans on social media are speculating that the injuries are a byproduct of the 2021 ban. Overall, the future of the sport isn’t looking great unless things start to change.
Earlier this year, Manfred announced he’ll step down as commissioner after the 2029 season. Hopefully, that will be a start.
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