Well, the owners can't get together to establish salary caps under the table so to speak, because they can't agree on what players are worth. They were guilty of holding players salaries down intentionally several times as more of a salary fixing operation. That being said, a strike will finish off an already weakened sport. The players are idiots for proposing a strike, and the owners are pathetic for not being able to control themselves.
Increasingly, teams are losing money in the sport. Stadiums are ridiculously expensive, and the amount of interest overhead they are paying is absurd. Here in the state of Minnesota we have a crybaby owner named Carl Pohlad. His good buddy, the impotent Bud Selig seem to favor a concept known as retraction. Where they take smaller teams and pull them back because they can't make a profit.
In order to keep the Twins they are blackmailing the state to build a stadium, because that will fix the revenue/loss scenerio. Uh-huh. Take a look at Milwaukee. They built a state of the art new stadium, and they are also a team on the possible retraction board. The biggest problem I can see with their asinine proposal is attendance. They can't fill the smaller Metrodome. Why in the world do they think that a more expensive stadium will solve the problem? It's like not being able to make the payments on a new GT, so you're pushing the finance guys to get you into a Cobra.
The owners and commissioner have threatened our state to the point nobody gives a rip. The entire scenerio has been handled poorly, and emphasizes the poor management of MLB. That falls upon the shoulders of the commissioner himself. He's worthless. His concept of retraction doesn't support the fans, and it doesn't support the sport. MLB has not been looking at the market, and it's showing. The NFL has salary caps in place, and you know what? The sport is better for it. You come into a season not knowing who is going to be good. They are beginning to find out some of the less expensive, less known players are just as good as the big dollar guys. Makes for more exciting games, and less expensive ticket prices.
Another sticking point on the negotiations from my understanding is the players want revenue sharing.
Give me a break. What the hell do they think their paycheck is?
All in all, I could really give a rats *** about Baseball. The sport is nothing more than a bunch of juiced up steriod using freaks like Barry Bonds. Bonds wasn't a psychotic home run hitter until a couple years ago. Now he's hitting 2x the number of home runs he used to, and at 38 years old. Whatever. It's a disgrace to the game, and all the true players that came before.
I don't know where the figures of higher attendance after the last strike came from
Mr 5 0, but I do suffice to say the interest, and enthusiasm for the sport were annihilated by the last strike. It took years to get back to where it was, and once again pick up a following of dedicated fans. The players and the players union are seriously dellusional if they think another lengthy strike won't kill the sport altogether. The fans are angry, and they are angry at the players. Way more than the last time. This time, I don't think there will be a recovery as MLB. Maybe a different league with players interested in playing the game, and inexpensive outtings to the outdoor ballfield to watch some guys making thousands, not millions.
Other sports:
American Football: I like it. Players can be crybabies, many are gangsta-wannabes, and I'm tired of seeing a dance after every single play, regardless of whether or not the play was actually advantageous to the dancing team.
Hockey: Cool stuff, and a blast to watch in person. No other sport is more fun to watch in the arena as far as I'm concerned. Action and excitement every minute or two. A game can leave your heart stopped for 30 seconds where the other sports can only do it for a couple.
NBA: Never liked it, never thought it was more entertaining than watching paint dry. Does the season EVER end? It fills up what could be worthwhile television (albeit I don't watch much) space.
Golf: Kinda neat to watch once in a while for short times. If nothing else than for the great scenery, and lack of a dance by some sawed off ex-gangsta every time a good shot is made.
NASCAR: If I wanted to see a bunch of rednecks race their 1960's engines around, I'd just go to a farm and watch Bubba chase after Ray-Bob when he finds Ray-Bob messing with his wife, Bobby Sue Ann Riley. Might be interesting if the cars were actually used to race each other instead of drivers.
Bowling: Ummm... Yeah. That's not a sport, it's a recreational hobby.
Soccer: Biggest sport in the entire world... I have yet to figure out why? Yeah, exciting watching 2 goals in 3 hours. Figure out a way to infuse action into the game.
Men's Tennis: Ho-hum.
Women's Tennis: HELL YEAH I wanna see Anna Kornikova and Jana Dokic play another match! LOL. Drawback? Serena and Venus Williams. No finesse, just brute force. Has anybody tested the neanderthal's for enhancement drugs?
Motocross: No speak.. me watching. Jaw drops.... I bet I could do that. HEHEHE.
Other forms of car racing: Cool when you have 3hrs of time to waste, hehe.