We just got done watching two of the greatest and most watched championship series in history, yet there is still a lot wrong with the game of baseball. This World Series will most likely have the lowest viewership of recent years. Since baseball hit rock bottom during the strike in 1994, the number of baseball fans has slowly started to go back up. It is still not at the pre-strike level, but fans are slowly coming back. Overall, the state of baseball is improving but needs some work.

The biggest problem with baseball is the distribution of wealth. Big market teams like the Yankees and Dodgers can afford to have payrolls that rival some major corporations’, while teams like the Brewers and Twins have to raise prices on parking just to get by. The National Football League provides a good example of what baseball must do.

Since football enacted its current policy of revenue sharing, teams like the Green Bay Packers have been able to not only compete with other teams but to win a Super Bowl. In a city the size of Green Bay, a baseball team would have gone under decades ago. In 1995, one year before the Packers won it all, 86 percent of the team’s revenue came from money shared by the league. The idea behind revenue sharing is that bigger markets share some of what they earn from TV contracts and some from advertising with smaller markets. Baseball has a similar system, except it doesn’t go nearly far enough.

The Yankees receive around $50 million from their TV contract while Milwaukee gets about $4 million, and very little of that money is shared. These teams are still supposed to compete with each other? I’m not saying that all of the Yankees’ success has come from their money. They do have one of the most successful farm systems in baseball. But they are able to hold on to these good players with their money. If the Brewers develop a good player, it is very likely that they won’t be able to resign him or will be forced to trade him. The Yankees’ 2003 payroll is just shy of $157 million while the Brewers’ is just under $28 million. How can anyone expect the sport to survive if this continues?

This inequality is ruining the game of baseball. Fans don’t come out to watch teams that have no chance of competing. When Miller Park was being built, the team was saying it would bring in enough money to pay for some marquee players. However, a stadium cannot do it by itself.

Another problem the Brewers have is that they are trying to run a profitable business. In baseball these days, you can’t expect to win without losing money. George Steinbrenner bites the bullet every year on the Yankees just so they can win. Unfortunately, not every team is owned by a rich individual or group with loose change to throw around.

I do have to tip my hat to the Minnesota Twins, who have shown that it can be done with a low payroll and with some no-name players, but, as we saw in this year’s playoffs, they didn’t have the caliber players to keep them going like the Yankees and the Red Sox do.

The Twins couldn’t manage to pick up Aaron Boone to fill out their infield with five All-Stars like the Yankees did toward the end of this season. Won’t it be great when the Brewers can think about picking up an All-Star at the end of the season instead of trading the one or two they already have? This won’t happen until there are enforced salary caps and more sharing of wealth amongst the MLB teams.

Baseball has some inherent obstacles it is forced to overcome. The length of the season and the 162 games played by every team can create a lack of interest in the sport. Football has two days each week when games are played for a span of 17 weeks. While this cuts down on overall attendance capabilities, it allows for Fox and CBS to showcase football all day, one day each week. I think Baseball can reclaim its title of “America’s Pastime” when players and owners can sit down at the bargaining table and put the interest of the sport in front of their own pocketbooks, but until then, we little guys are going to have to be content with mediocrity.

Matt Seaholm ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in Political Science.