Premier League Kicks Off While MLB Negotiates Its Season

Unsplash/Nick Jio


 

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We’re back! (Almost). Major League Baseball is closing in on finalizing a deal to start a shortened season. The league sent the Players’ Association a proposal for a 60-game season at full pro-rated pay for the players.

According to MLB sources, the new season could start as early as July 19th. It’s been on hiatus since before spring training even began due to that sonofab*th COVID. At least we had ‘Long Gone Summer.’

While this is by no means a done deal, it’s getting closer. The league has made three proposals, while the MLBPA has made two. Each proposal fell apart when the two sides were about $1B apart in guaranteed player salaries. That’s bush league.

The reason for the salary discrepancy? The MLB knows what it stands to lose in revenue if fans aren’t allowed at the games, so it’s trying to cut corners with the players. Angering your talent in a business driven by talent, what could go wrong? 

Meanwhile, across the pond 

The Premier League kicked off again yesterday, also having been on hiatus since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide. The, for lack of a better word, premier soccer league in the world is looking for ways to expand its revenue while players compete in empty stadiums.

To help make up for lost time, the team will be lifting restrictions on Saturday afternoon games, which it traditionally blacks out to help sustain in-person ticket prices around England.

In addition, games will be available without a subscription to Comcast Corp.’s Sky and BT Group Plc, which can run fans up to £60 per month. Even Jeff Bezos is getting in on the action. Amazon has a set number of games air on its Prime service throughout the season, and it had exhausted those games before the league wide pause, but now, it’s getting four additional games that it wouldn’t have had access to, otherwise. If Jeff Bezos doesn’t paint his bald head like a soccer ball to promote this, he’s missing a million-dollar opportunity. 

The bottom line…

Just because leagues are getting back to the action, doesn’t mean their revenue streams are. Analysts project that the MLB could be missing out on almost $10B in revenue by playing before empty stadiums. Except the Marlins, who are so bad that having no fans means they’re actually making money somehow.

The Premier League, on the other hand, stands to lose $1.25B after the lifted lockdown. Three months without rabid, gambling hooligans will do that to you.

Water Cooler Talking Point(s)

💧 “If the MLB can somehow figure out how to have hotdog barkers deliver to my home, they might be able to cut into that deficit a little bit.” (AJ, The Water Coolest HQ)

 

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The Water Coolest is a daily business newsletter consisting of business news, financial advice, and unfiltered commentary. Delivered fresh in your inbox every morning so you're ready to snap necks and cash checks. Written by Tyler Morrin, AJ Glagolev, Nick Ellis, and Ian Barto.