The MLB Is Blowing Their Golden Opportunity

We've been without sports now for 1,598 days. Not really, but at least that is what it feels like. It seems as if it's been years since the NBA shut its doors. Centuries since Major League Baseball called off the season during Spring Training. Since then I've been keeping myself entertained through replays of old games, Michael Jordan documentaries and Coach Duggs leading Tennessee to a National Championship.

But let's face it. Those things aren't the same as coming home from work and turning on a live game, and that is something that we have gone without for far too long. And here the MLB sits, with the chance to dominate the sports world and capture the attention of a generation that has never cared for baseball, and they are completely blowing it.

Think about it, we could have been weeks into the MLB season if the owners and players could have come to an agreement. But here we sit, the players and the owners both wanting to hold onto their money. In the meantime, MiLB players have been cut and lost their jobs, stadiums sit empty and Twitter is ablaze with players and agents giving their thoughts on the feud between players and owners.

Anytime you get millionaires arguing with billionaires, it's hard to get sympathy from fans working a 9-5 and are more than willing to spend their money on jerseys, hot dogs, beers, tickets and TV packages. But with that said, it's clear that it is the owners, the billionaires, the ones with the ability to print money until they sell the team or die, they are the ones that should take the hit financially.

The Owners and the MLB Commissioner have yet to present an offer that is acceptable in the eyes of the MLB Players, and recently Reds' Pitcher Trevor Bauer took to Twitter to explain why the MLB Owners and Rob Manfred continue to twiddle their thumbs on this issue.

Fortunately, there seems to be some good news on the horizon for baseball and MLB fans with reports that the MLB has offered plans for a 60 game season with full prorated salary for players and expanded playoffs in 2020 and 2021. But, has the damage already been done? Fans have already begun to lose interest in a sport that was losing fans long before coronavirus postponed the MLB season.

Baseball had a chance to grow their fan base and dominate the sports world at a time where fans were clamoring for any kind of sport to watch. But instead, the MLB blew their golden opportunity.