The new proposed playoff format increases the amount of playoff teams from ten to fourteen giving the top team in each league and bye. For the first round the division winners will pick what wild card team they want to face in a three-game series at the division winners’ ballpark. Several players have expressed displeasure with the proposal. I don’t like this change because the current format is perfect with two wildcard teams facing off in a one winner take all game. I feel like it would be to many teams in the playoffs with 14 of 30 teams. Expanding the playoffs is not exactly what Major League Baseball needs. It will not stop teams from tanking, there will still be bad teams doing it. Free agents could have issues like the 2018-19 offseason because teams don’t feel they need them as much to win a championship reducing the pay of veteran free agents over 30 since the MLB playoffs any team can get hot and win. The hope is it allows more fanbases to remain interested in watching and attending their games. It is unclear to me if it will have a huge impact on attendance. In terms of teams picking their playoff matchup I don’t believe it will cause more interest in the sport. In terms of picking teams, it will lead to forced drama to try to generate interest. There are several ideas to fix the problem, but this is not what is needed.
Major League Baseball’s focus should be on marketing their players. The league has done a poor job at marketing their star players. Marketing is a big reason why the NBA has grown and has captured young people unlike Major League Baseball. Major League baseball has become a regional sport. Fans tend to only watch their team because they are playing every day. If you market players better, it can lead to more interest in watching other teams. Maybe this can lead to better attendance. I’m all for finding ways to speed up the game without any drastic changes. With the way people consume media the slower pace of play is boring to some people. Another big thing baseball should improve is the ticket prices. Making it more affordable for families can draw more interest in the sport with kids. Ultimately baseball needs to find a way to make baseball cool again to kids.
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