Selig: Economy weighs on owners' minds

[January 16, 2009]  PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- Bud Selig leaned against an ATM after emerging from the major league owners meeting on Thursday. The machine's screen read: "OUT OF SERVICE."

"Some owner needed money and took all the money out," Selig said with a smile.

The commissioner's wisecrack came after the owners wrapped up two days of meetings at a mountainside resort with a sobering discussion of the recession and what it means to the sport.

The economy hasn't affected the New York Yankees, who have spent nearly a half-billion dollars on free agents this offseason -- a splurge that had some owners here wondering whether baseball needs a salary cap. Meanwhile, the baseball-owned MLB Network, launched on New Year's Day, is spending more than $50 million to hire staff, build sets and renovate its facility.

Elsewhere, there has been anecdotal evidence of the economy's impact, in lagging ticket sales and lost sponsorships. But Selig said it's too early to tell how the recession will affect teams this season.

"We talked a fair amount about that today," Selig said. "I don't think anybody can tell yet. There are a lot of clubs doing business, and others are struggling."

Selig declined to offer specifics. Instead, he referred to a speech by author George Will, whom he invited to address the owners at Thursday's session. Selig said Will gave an overview of world credit markets and economic history.

"We're not inconsistent with the world," Selig said. "If you go back in my career, which now spans almost 40 years, we've been through a lot of recessions. And I used to sort of, I guess, console myself with the knowledge that baseball really was significantly, economically recession-proof. We're in something that, I think, you can see is just different from anything we've gone through.

"What that means, I don't know, and there isn't anybody in that room who knows," Selig said. "There's just uncertainty. But there's uncertainty everywhere in life today. That's the whole point."

Selig said owners will have a better idea of the economy's impact on fans and their spending habits once the regular season opens in April. Last October, he warned teams not to "get too cocky" and overprice game tickets, given the state of the economy.

"I'm optimistic. Our sport is very strong," said Selig, who received $14.5 million in the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 2006, according to Major League Baseball's last available tax return. "The core economics are very sound, but we shall see."

Still, some owners here -- including Mark Attanasio of Milwaukee and Bob Nutting of Pittsburgh -- endorsed a salary cap after the Yankees' offseason splurge on pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and infielder Mark Teixeira.

Owners haven't brought the salary cap up in negotiations since the disastrous 1994-95 strike that wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years. But it could become an issue when the present collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2011 season.

"I'm not going to comment on that," Selig said. "Owners are entitled to comment on anything they want."

Also Thursday:

• Owners met with Fox Sports president Ed Goren, and Selig pressed for earlier start times for World Series games, which usually begin at around 8:30 p.m. EDT.
  
  "It's not a secret: I want earlier starting times," Selig said. "You'd like to figure out a way for a late-afternoon game, if it's possible. So we're continuing to talk. Fox has been very cooperative, I must say."

• Selig said the Chicago Cubs' efforts to find a new owner by opening day are "reasonable at this point," even though a potential buyer has yet to be publicly identified. A potential buyer would have to be approved by the ownership committee, and then the proposed sale would go to a vote of all owners.

• Owners were briefed by Harvey Schiller, president of the International Baseball Federation. Baseball will not be a part of the 2012 Olympics in London, but the sport could be back in 2016.
  
  Selig said baseball would be "flexible," but he wasn't optimistic about major leaguers participating in the Olympics.
  
  "We want to do everything to help, and Harvey knows that," Selig said. "But this is not rocket science. You can't stop a season in August and tell your fans, 'We'll see you in two-and-a-half or three weeks.' That would not play well. Look, you'd then be playing baseball almost to Dec. 1. So it's just pragmatism takes over."

[Associated Press; By ANDREW BAGNATO]

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