Is MLB extending its reach or overreaching?

League faces balancing act between delivering content and maintaining value for rights holders

This headline from a leading sports business publication. How timely. Yesterday, I was talking with the parents of Seattle Mariners prospect, Greg Dobbs. Greg’s dad told me that he is not allowed to bring his home video camera into an MLB game and shoot video. Can you believe that? After all the years of supporting their son—driving him to practices, nurturing him through a near-career-ending injury—Greg’s folks cannot take video of their son playing in a major league game? Is that nuts, or what?

We talked about this issue for a while. Greg’s dad (sorry, I don’t know his first name), told me that with my camera, I’ll never be stopped from taking videos at the game. The camera is small and inconspicuous. When video cameras are popular add-ons to mobile phones, it will be an unstoppable force.

Note to MLB: The fan is not the enemy. Allow the fan to take his or her video camera into the game. No one is interested in stealing away the broadcast rights from ESPN. Fans, like me, want to shoot clips of the game and…well…be fans and share those clips (with their own fan comments) with other fans. That’s it…nothing more.

MLB must embrace its fans. If you’re looking for a positive PR move that takes the sting out of the BALCO controversy, allow the fans to shoot videos of their favorite players, stadiums, concession stands, speed pitch games, beer vendor, etc… Put a section on MLB.com for fans to share their videos.

The game is about the fans. At least it used to be.

We have been in the process of doing a major housecleaning. Taking on the guise of being merciless anti-Pat Racks--applying the theory if you haven’t seen it or used it in six months, it’s toast—I decided to chuck our Yellow Pages ®. We have seven or eight Yellow Pages of various flavors and now they’re headed to the Scottsdale Recycling center. Will they be turned into something more useful? I’d say that’s a near mortal lock.

As someone who always was a YP true believer, I expunged them because they no longer have value. The Web has kicked them to the curb because:

1. Online, listings can be updated regularly
2. Online, there is an endless supply of ancillary information that could be put with each listing—current promos and specials, holiday hours, new ownership…
3. Online you can search
4. Online you can share something you find with someone else
5. Online you can embed driving instructions and a map

And so on…

I bid my friends goodbye. They are going to a better place—maybe they will be reincarnated as something cool like confetti to be tossed at Barry Bonds for his victory celebration when he breaks Aaron’s homerun record.