From the Cape Cod Times: Major League Baseball plays hardball with Cape League

The Cape Cod Baseball League, as you may know, is a college summer league who plays…well…on the Cape. Six of their teams have been using Major League Baseball team nicknames and logos. But now, MLB has decided that the CCBL must pony up, or lose the $100,000 annual grant from them.

What do they want? Well, a lot of uniforms, T-shirts and other souvenir items were made by local vendors. Some of said vendors were also sponsors. But now, MLB says that the affected CCBL teams must directbuy ALL of their uniforms and souvenir items from “MLB-licensed vendors”. As anyone who’s ever bought a cap or a jersey or any other souvenir at an MLB park well knows, these vendors are MUCH more expensive than the small-town vendors that the CCBL has been using. To add insult to injury, MLB is also demanding 11% of the profits from existing inventory (the stuff NOT made by the pricey MLB vendors).

I have never been to a Cape Cod League game (although I hope to, perhaps sometimes this summer). But the way they are run is very similar to the New England College Baseball League. The players are all college kids, none of who are paid. They live in the communities where their teams are, with “host families”. The host families receive no compensation except for tickets to all of the games. And you see them there at every game, cheering on their current houseguest.

We’ve been to a few Sanford Mainers games, when we were vacationing up that way. The lady that collects your five bucks to get in does not get paid. The kid who sells you a soda, hot dog, and chips also does not get paid. The old guys who walk throughout the stands selling “Moose Pies”, while wearing funny moose antler hats, nope, no paycheck for them, either. Not even the guy who dresses up in the “Broose D’Moose” mascot costume. All volunteers, who do so because they care about the team and what it brings to the community.

The Mainers charge five bucks a pop to get in, cheaper for kids and seniors. That, donations, sponsorships, and proceeds from concessions and souvenirs are what keep them afloat. The Cape Cod League, on the other hand, has no ticket prices at all. They hope that when you attend a game, you will choose to make a donation, and really, it would be skeevy NOT to do so. They rely on donations from fans, sponsorships, and proceeds from stuff they sell in order to get by.

In order to comply with what MLB wants, they would lose a lot of money, perhaps even more than the 100 grand. They might actually have to start charging for tickets. The souvenirs would be more expensive. It would defeat the purpose of affordable family entertainment, wouldn’t it?

I think they should tell MLB to shove it, keep their lousy 100K. The Cape Cod community has a decent number of year ’round residents, and that population really swells in the summer. There are people who return to the Cape year after year after year, and many of them enjoy Cape Cod baseball. Surely there are enough of these people who’d be willing to donate a bit more to help bridge that gap? A thousand people giving an additional $100 each? Five thousand people giving and extra Andrew Jackson apiece? There’s your $100K. Screw MLB!

Then, they can play one last year with the nicknames and uniforms they have, with plenty of times to come up with new ones for next year. That way, they won’t have to worry about pissing off their local sponsors. It would indeed be very foolish, and promote ill will in the communities, for the CCBL to give in to MLB’s demands.

The CCBL is NOT about making money.  It’s about letting these college kids play a game that they love, perhaps be discovered by MLB scouts, and letting others enjoy watching them on beautiful Cape Cod summer nights.  The money is just to keep things going, nobody gets rich.  Now, if I were to make T-shirts with a Red Sox logo on them and tried to sell them, MLB would bust me, and rightfully so.  But sheesh…many of these kids ARE the future of MLB…can we really afford to treat their teams and league this way?  I don’t think so.

So, if you’re planning on going to the Cape this summer, please consider going to one of the games, and donating as much as you can afford. Let’s all show MLB that they don’t rule the world!