Minor ups and downs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - There was a time when Major League Baseball rules prevented teams from broadcasting games within 50 miles of a minor league ball park. The thinking was the major league broadcasts hurt minor league attendance. That appeared to be the case, but in 1949 the U-S Justice Department said the rule violated anti-trust laws. The broadcasts had to be allowed. As U-S Senator Edwin Johnson put it, "Then the heavens caved in." Senator Johnson's reaction may have been a little melodramatic, but on this date in 1953 the Colorado democrat introduced a bill that would leave it up to each individual team whether to allow major league broadcasts in minor league towns. Johnson said the broadcasts, many now television, were destroying minor league baseball in small cities and towns, but is that still the case?

At its zenith in 1949, there were 59 minor leagues and 448 teams. Attendance nationwide was 39,630,433. When Senator Johnson introduced his bill in 1953 the number of leagues had dropped to 39 and many of them on shaky ground. Johnson's bill did not pass, and the minor leagues continued their downward spiral. By 1963 there were only 20 minor leagues and 132 teams across the United States and Mexico. But broadcasting may eventually have breathed life into minor league baseball because it is booming today.

According to Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily, while there were only 15 leagues and 176 teams in 2008, a new attendance record of 43,263,740 was set. It was the 5th straight year a new attendance record was set.* And Gene Budig, former American League President and current co-owner of a minor league team, says the troubled economy may help minor league baseball because it offers a family one of the few affordable entertainment options.

Contributing sources:
The Associated Press, Washington, D.C., March 21, 1953
Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily, September 16, 2008
Lawrence-Journal World & 6News, by Gene Budig, February 22, 2009
Official site of Minor League Baseball

*These numbers do not count independent professionall baseball leagues such as The Northern League and The Frontier League.