Since those years there is no denying that there is risk involved in owning a franchise. The business of baseball has been wrought with conflict between owners and players, leagues and players' unions, and team lawyers and players' lawyers. Those that research this industry claim that the Major Baseball League's monopoly, negotiations for increasingly large salaries for players, strikes by players, ticket prices,
and the aging of the core fan base are all factors that have contributed to the slowed growth of this industry in recent years. However, despite the perceived problems, attendance by fans at major league games have been between 50,043,384 in 1994 to a high of 72,968,953 in 2004.2 By the years 2012 attendance at major league games was 74,859,268 with an average 30,895 fans per game. 3
1 Major League Baseball, as cited in USA Today 28 (November 1990):2c.
2 Major League Baseball, as cited in "Baseball - Major League Regular Season Attendance", Sports Business Research Network database. (Viewed 8 June 2005).
3 MLB's 2012 regular season attendance ranks as fifth highest ever. October 4, 2012 press release. http://mlb.mlb.com  (Viewed 26 March 2013).
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Baseball Almanac
http://baseball-almanac.com/
A comprehensive and freely available Web site which includes information on the economic aspects of baseball.
Baseball Archive (Sean Lahman)
http://seanlahman.com/baseball-archive/
Includes general historical information as well as a database with complete batting and pitching statistics back to 1871, plus fielding statistics, standings, team stats, managerial records, post-season data, and more. Updates for new data are done annually.
Baseball Library
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/
Information on the individual teams, players, and general news. It includes a chronology of the history of baseball that provides an overview of each era of baseball history with economic aspects highlighted.
Baseball Prospectus
http://www.baseballprospectus.com
This Web site offers a free statistical database containing a substantial number of statistics searchable by name of player, name of team and any year from 1871 to the present. The site also includes baseball news, chat, RSS feeds, radio broadcasts, and a list of events. Some services on this site are available only to subscribers.
The Business of Baseball
http://www.businessofbaseball.com/
Prepared by the Society for American Baseball Research, the site offers a variety of research tools for studying the business aspects of professional baseball, including databases and spreadsheets, documentation by jurisdictions exploring relocation and/or expansion, current and historical documents, biographies of individuals related to the business of baseball, selected book reviews, articles, papers, and commentaries, as well as interviews with individuals that have had an impact on the business.
"The Economic History of Major League Baseball," by Michael J. Haupert, in EH.net Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History (Economic History Association).
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/haupert.mlb
This article from the online EH.net Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History provides an overview of the economic history of baseball, and includes tables of players' salaries, ticket costs and franchise values from 1920-2002. This essay also includes a comprehensive bibliography.
Historic Baseball Resources at the Library of Congress.
http://www.loc.gov/topics/baseball/
Links to selected digital resources relating to baseball history available online from the Library of Congress web site.
Levin, Richard C., George J. Mitchell, Paul A. Volcker, George F. Will. The Report of the Independent Members of the Commissioner's Blue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics. New York : Major League Baseball.
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/blue_ribbon.pdf [PDF Format: 639 KB / 93 p.]
The Commissioner's Blue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics, representing the interests of baseball fans, was formed to study whether revenue disparities among clubs are seriously damaging competitive balance, and if so, to recommend structural reforms to ameliorate the problem.
Sabermetrics
http://dmoz.org/Sports/Baseball/Sabermetrics/
Web link list of sabermetrics sites which offer an analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics.
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The Baseball Index
http://www.baseballindex.org
A free Web resource which includes references to books, magazine articles, programs, pamphlets, films, recordings, songs, poems, cartoons, advertising, or anything else that may be of interest to the baseball fan or researcher. It is an ongoing project of the Bibliography Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
John Stilton's Baseball-links.com
http://www.baseball-links.com/links/Ballparks/
Comprehensive links page on ballparks.
Yahoo Baseball Directory
http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/sports/baseball/index.html
A Web directory with categories for baseball media, finance, salaries, stadiums, etc.
Baseball Cards 1887-1914
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbhome.html
Cigarette card collector Benjamin K. Edwards preserved these baseball cards in albums with more than 12,000 other cards on many subjects. After his death, Edwards' daughter gave the albums to noted poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg, who donated them to the Prints and Photographs Division of The Library of Congress in 1954. The digitized cards are part of the collections of the Prints and Photographs Division of The Library of Congress.
Emergence of Advertising in America: Tobacco Advertisements
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/
Images of baseball trading cards used by tobacco companies between 1850 and 1920 to advertise their products.
Works on baseball cards in The Library of Congress collection
http://catalog.loc.gov
A price catalog of baseball gloves as collectibles in The Library of Congress collection
http://catalog.loc.gov
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Major League Baseball Players Association
http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/pa/info/history.jsp
History of this association reflects the labor history of baseball.
Major League Baseball Team Directory
http://mlb.mlb.com/team/
Directory of American and National League teams, addresses and telephone numbers.
National Sporting Goods Association
http://www.nsga.org
Provides numerous services for members including research reports, market reports and a Cost of Doing Business Survey for the sporting goods industry.
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
http://www.sabr.org/
Established in Cooperstown, New York in August, 1971. Fosters the study of baseball, assists in developing and maintaining the history of the game, facilitates the dissemination of baseball research, stimulates interest in baseball, and safeguards the proprietary interests of its members' research efforts.
National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
http://abner.baseballhalloffame.org/search
Search the online catalog of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library. Contains the most extensive collection of archival material devoted exclusively to baseball in the world. Researchers are encouraged to utilize the Bartlett Giamatti Research Center.
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Baseball Prospectus. Davis, Calif. : Ravenlock Media,
LC Call Number: GV865.A1 B346
LC Catalog Record: 97664090
Annual publication which provides statistical analysis and rating of baseball players. Offers performance analysis of 1,600 players in the majors and minor leagues, the top 40 prospects and draft choices. Includes essays on all 30 Major League clubs. For more statistics like these see the Baseball Prospectus Web site reviewed in this guide.
Burk, Robert Fredrick. Much More Than a Game : Players, Owners, & American Baseball Since 1921. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2001.
LC Call Number: GV880.B869
LC Catalog Record: 00041774
Publisher's description
Well-researched baseball labor history of the 20th century. Especially useful to researchers is the "Bibliographic Essay" giving primary source information on pages 347-357.
Jozsa, Frank P. Baseball in Crisis : Spiraling Costs, Bad Behavior, Uncertain Future. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c2008.
LC Call Number: GV863.A1 J69 2008
LC Catalog Record: 2008027616
Table of Contents
Provides a discussion on the decrease of interest in baseball and includes various data and statistics.
Kagan's the Business of Baseball. Carmel, CA : Paul Kagan Associates, 2001.
LC Call Number: GV880.B86
LC Catalog Record: 2001207020
Table of Contents
Annual publication that provides an industry overview with statistics on the leagues, teams, players, media, stadiums, franchise valuations, ticket prices, expansion fees, media ownership, licensing and merchandise, and the revenues and expenses of all major league teams.
This publication is no longer in print but can still be useful in understanding the business aspects of baseball. It provides an industry overview with statistics on the leagues, teams, players, media, stadiums, franchise valuations, ticket prices, expansion fees, media ownership, licensing and merchandise, and the revenues and expenses of all major league teams as of the publication date.
McKelvey, G. Richard. For It's One, Two, Three, Four Strikes You're Out at the Owners' Ball Game : Players versus Management in Baseball. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., 2001.
LC Call Number: GV880.15.M35
LC Catalog Record: 2001041020
Focuses on the baseball strikes of 1972,1981,1985 and 1994, the role of the labor unions and collective bargaining.
Miller, Marvin. A Whole Different Ball Game : The Inside Story of the Baseball Revolution. Preface by Studs Terkel. Introduction by Bill James.
Chicago : I.R. Dee, 2004.
LC Call Number: GV880.M57
LC Catalog Record: 2004052741
The author was the founding executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. In the preface Studs Terkel describes him as the "most effective union organizer since John L. Lewis." Firsthand account of the "revolution" in major league players' salaries and benefits.
Powers, Albert Theodore. The Business of Baseball. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2003.
LC Call Number: GV880.P69
LC Catalog Record: 2002152442
A delightful history about ball players and owners, their disputes, negotiations and resolutions.
Each chapter begins with interesting quotes such as " Baseball, like some other sports, poses as a sacred institution dedicated to the public good, but it is actually a big, selfish business with a ruthlessness that many big businesses would never think of displaying. " by Jackie Robinson
Sports Money : Baseball. New York : Forbes, c2008.
LC Call Number: GV880 .S67 2008
LC Catalog Record: 2008276157
This is a special issue from Forbes magazine. Includes: The Money Behind the Yankees and Red Sox Rivalry; Best and Worst Players for the Money; Touring the Ballparks; Ranking the GMs- Performance vs. Payroll; Bargain Fantasy Players; MLB's Secret Weapon- Asians.
Surdam, David G. Ball Game Biz : An Introduction to the Economics of Professional Team Sports. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2010.
LC Call Number: GV880 .S87 2010
LC Catalog Record: 2010029786
Zimbalist, Andrew S. May the Best Team Win : Baseball Economics and Public Policy.
Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2003.
LC Call Number: GV880.Z58
LC Catalog Record: 2002156494
The author argues that major league baseball has been a monopoly since 1922. He considers some of the problems of today's baseball industry as: "labor tensions, competitive dominance by high- revenue teams, migration of game telecasts to cable, escalating ticket prices, and an aging fan base."
Baseball and American Culture : Across the Diamond. Edward J. Rielly, editor. New York : Haworth Press, 2003.
LC Call Number: GV867.64 .B36
LC Catalog Record: 2002015134
The following chapter deals with the baseball advertising.
Newman, Roberta. "Here's the Pitch : Baseball and Advertising."
Keetz, Frank. Baseball Advertising Trade Cards. 3rd ed. [Schenectady, N.Y.] : F. Keetz, 2011.
LC Call Number: HF5851 .K44 2011
LC Catalog Record: 2012439274
Petrone, Gerard S. Tobacco Advertising: The Great Seduction. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1996.
LC Call Number: HF6161.T6 P48
LC Catalog Record: 96006405
Glossy reproductions of baseball cards and cigarette inserts on pages 57 and 155 with a short history.
Norris, James D. Advertising and the Transformation of American Society, 1865-1920. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
LC Call Number: HF5813.U6 N67
LC Catalog Record: 90002760
For additional titles on this topic, see the Baseball Card Bibliography.
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Baseball Management and Marketing
Abrams, Roger I. The Money Pitch : Baseball Free Agency and Salary Arbitration. Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2000.
LC Class Number: GV880 .A27
LC Catalog Record: 99087922
Describes the negotiation and arbitration of ball players' salaries and the relationship of baseball team owners, players, agents and the union.
Baseball and American Culture : Across the Diamond. Edward J. Rielly, editor. New York : Haworth Press, 2003.
LC Call Number: GV867.64 .B36
LC Catalog Record: 2002015134
The following chapters deal with baseball management and labor relations.
Puerzer, Richard J. "From John McGraw to Joe Torre : Industrial Management Styles Applied throughout the History of Major League Baseball." and
Shallcross Koziara, Karen. " Baseball Labor Relations : Is It Safe to Go Back to the Ball Park?"
Baseball and Antitrust : The Legislative History of the Curt Flood Act of 1998, Public Law no. 105-297, 112 Stat. 2824 / edited by Edmund P. Edmonds and William H. Manz. Buffalo, N.Y. : W.S. Hein, 2001.
LC Call Number: KF3989.A313 A163 2001
LC Catalog Record: 2001024210
Budig, Gene A. The Inside Pitch -- And More : Baseball's Business and the Public Trust. 1st ed.
Morgantown : West Virginia University Press, 2004.
LC Call Number: GV880 .B83
LC Catalog Record: 2003116516
Table of Contents
As president of the American League from 1994-2000 the author examines major issues in growing the game in the 21st century.
Lowenfish, Lee. The Imperfect Diamond : A History of Baseball’s Labor Wars. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2010.
LC Call Number: GV880.15 .L69 2010
LC Catalog Record: 2009049566
Historical overview covering the century plus long struggle between labor and Major League Baseball. First published in 1980 and then 1991, this 2010 version has an epilogue tha picks up where the earlier volume stopped by taking readers from the 1990s and into the 21st century.
Papers of Branch Rickey, 1890-1969 (Archival Manuscript Collection)
LC Call Number: 0451G (Manuscript Reading Room)
Also available on Microfilm: 22,326-2P (Manuscript Reading Room)
Catalog Record: mm82037820
Of particular interest for researchers is a manuscript collection and finding aid for the papers of Wesley Branch Rickey, major league baseball player, manager, and executive, which reflects the history of baseball business from 1936 to 1965.
Williams, Pat and Michael Weinreb. Marketing Your Dreams: Business and Life Lessons from Bill Veeck, Baseball's Promotional Genius. Champaign, IL : Sports Publishing, Inc., 2000. ISBN: 1-58261-182-3
LC Catalog Record: 00101417
Note: Not available in the collections of the Library of Congress as of March 2013.
Draws from the career of a master promoter of baseball. Records the power plays and financial management style of Bill Veeck, former owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Sox.
Zimbalist, Andrew S. In the Best Interests of Baseball? : The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig. Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley, c2006.
LC Call Number: GV875.7 .Z56 2006
LC Catalog Record: 2005021354
Table of contents
Provides a look at the history of the commissioner as well as an historical look at past commissioners.
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Additional works on the baseball business in the Library of Congress may be identified by searching the Online Catalog under appropriate Library of Congress subject headings. Choose the topics you wish to search from the following list of Library of Congress subject headings to link directly to the Catalog and automatically execute a search for the subject selected. Please be aware that during periods of heavy use you may encounter delays in accessing the catalog. For assistance in locating the many other subject headings which relate to baseball as a business, please consult a reference librarian.
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Last Updated: 05/21/2013 |
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