Can MLB Leverage Postseason Spotlight into Long-Term Momentum

After a turbulent five-year period, Major League Baseball in 2023 enjoyed a comeback season highlighted by renewed fan engagement, attendance growth, faster games, and an influx of young talent upending the sport's typical financial dynamics.

With metrics pointing to an unqualified success, MLB now aims to extend that momentum into the playoffs and use the 2022 postseason as a capstone. 

"Our game has been blessed with an influx of young talent over the last five years unlike anything we have ever seen, and people are winning with young talent," said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on ESPN's "First Take." All signs point to MLB capping a momentous regular season and transitioning into a new era, buoyed by this postseason spotlight.

Across MLB, clear signs of renewed growth emerged. Overall attendance increased 9.6 percent to the league's best mark since 2017. The median age of ticket buyers dropped six years compared to 2019. Streaming minutes on MLB.TV exceeded last year's total by 9 percent, hitting a record 12.7 billion. And MLB's social media platforms generated over 6 billion video views, another new high.

"A number of changes around the game have been very effective, as has the marketing of those changes," said Atlanta Braves CEO Derek Schiller. "Part of what we see as a result is an increased ability to have connection with others through baseball."

Those positive indicators helped fuel MLB team owners' decision this summer to extend Manfred's contract four more years through 2028.After initially testing innovations in the minor leagues, three on-field modifications contributed to MLB's resurgence: a pitch clock, larger bases, and a ban on extreme defensive shifts. The changes aimed to quicken the pace of play and create a faster, more action-packed product appealing to younger fans. 

The metrics show an unqualified success. Average game times plunged to 2 hours, 40 minutes, MLB's lowest since 1985 and a massive 24-minute reduction from 2022. Stolen bases jumped to the highest level since 1987.

"Getting the dead time out of the game was critically important, especially to younger audiences. You can't turn away without missing something now — and before, you definitely could," said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consulting firm SportsCorp Ltd.

Beyond the rule changes themselves, the timing and transparency around implementation fostered a tangible shift in baseball's perception following consecutive discordant offseasons. 

"Fans communicated these changes organically, and there was a different tenor in how people talked about baseball," Ganis noted.That positions MLB to channel 2023's on-field momentum into an offseason spotlighted by the playoffs.

For all of MLB's growth, accelerating disruption in the sports media landscape leaves baseball arguably more financially exposed than other U.S. leagues. The entire postseason airs on national networks like ESPN and Fox, with whom MLB holds long-term rights contracts. But the crumbling regional sports network (RSN) model is an urgent threat.

The implosion of RSNs through cord-cutting drains MLB's decades-long revenue streams tied to bundling. Despite streaming growth, MLB itself projects initial local media revenue declines before an eventual rebound.

Twelve teams are still entangled in the bankruptcy of Bally Sports' parent, Diamond Sports Group. And the departures of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks from RSNs to self-produce broadcasts underscore the instability.

MLB guarantees those two clubs at least 80 percent of prior contracted revenue. But RSN erosion still poses MLB's biggest financial uncertainty.  

"The mother's milk of regional sports networks has been very good to MLB for a long time, and that's now drying up," Ganis said. "Streaming is not close to filling those losses."

Whle acknowledging RSN challenges, MLB aims to expand its global presence under the new "MLB World Tour" banner. The 2024 schedule includes unprecedented regular season games in South Korea, more trips to England and Mexico, and Spring Training matchups in the Dominican Republic.

MLB will also continue the balanced schedule format introduced in 2023, allowing each team to host various opponents. 

"When you play 81 home games, that variety is important," Manfred noted.Those initiatives position MLB to extend its growth trajectory despite economic crosswinds. And this postseason spotlight offers a chance to capitalize.

With young stars and small-market teams like the Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, and Seattle Mariners reaching the playoffs, MLB sees upside in showcasing Cinderella stories and new talent.The Braves, who enter the playoffs as the defending champion and National League's top seed, invited fans to attend free simulated games during their layoff, wanting to sustain engagement. 

"The players wanted those fans in attendance and that intensity," Schiller said. "It brought an entirely different energy."After introducing changes to reengage fans, reduce game times, and boost action, MLB heads into the 2022 postseason, aiming to leverage success and spotlight into a springboard for the future.

With industry observers forecasting a decline in local media revenue amid RSN implosions, MLB plans to counter those financial risks by tapping fast-growing international markets. And the league hopes this postseason shines a light on an influx of young stars and small-market success stories representing MLB's aim of ushering in a new era.