Players and coaches in baseball’s Atlantic League had been dreading the change for more than a year. “I don’t understand why they’re doing it,” Danny Barnes, a relief pitcher for the Long Island Ducks, told me during batting practice a week before its debut at the beginning of August. “That’s a tough one,” said fellow reliever Joe Iorio. “We don’t want it to create injuries.”
Click here to read the story at bloomberg.com.
Discussion Questions:
- Why is it important to put forth a quality product in the business of sports and entertainment?
- How can rule changes impact the quality of the product in sport?
- What types of rule changes might MLB be considering, based on information from this story?
- Why do you think MLB is expirimenting with rule changes?
- How might rule changes help to potentially improve the product?
- Why do you think some in the sport (players and fans) might be opposed to rule changes?
- If you were a marketing professional working for MLB, what would you suggest to help improve the product? Be prepared to discuss your ideas in class.