Cheating scandal, MLB is going to get it wrong? Embrace tech don’t fight it
Everything is bigger in Texas, including its cheating scandals. Over the next few weeks and heading into spring training, the Astro’s cheating scandal will be the most talked-about event. Pitchers and catchers report in less than a month and there are three teams without managers. Right now we are barely seeing the full impact of the scandal; I suspect in the next few weeks someone will start a class action suit against the Astro’s. Maybe even Yu Darvish will sue for lost wages. However, there will be an even bigger miss by Major League Baseball. I predict it will take the MLB twenty years to see the missed opportunity to lead professional sports into the digital age. In almost every environment, technology is embraced and used to make things better, except baseball.
Baseball’s biggest problem is not cheating, its biggest problem is people are losing interest in the game and the MLB cannot figure out why. Attendance is dropping and the game is becoming irrelevant amongst younger generations. MLB will try to say its share of the TV market remains strong and “we just need to find new ways to engage our fans!”. Someone, please tell MLB no one watches TV anymore. More people watch “Turkey Slurpee” on Tik Tok and check out Selena Gomez’s IG account than watch MLB. And the problem is going to get worse before it gets better because MLB is missing the biggest opportunity in front of them. Don’t worry. If the MLB will listen, I can help them.
At the last game I watched live I was shocked by how many fans were on their phones instead of watching the live play. I remember being at one game and the guy in the row in front of me was watching the game on his phone instead of live in front of him. I don’t want to cast judgment, I want to say let’s embrace technology. Here is how it should be done.
Wearables: Let’s be honest, wearables really means Apple Watch and Airpods. Or in the case of the Houston Astro’s, wearables mean signal stealing relay technology. Let every player use them in the game. Think through all positive benefits.
Speed of Play: Baseball has been trying to figure out ways to speed the game up by limiting mound visits. How about no mound visits. Managers can relay signals to their entire team. No need for the slow walk out to the mound. Wearables eliminate the delay for the catcher to get the signal from the manager, then relay the signal to the pitcher. DM through wearables happens everywhere else, why not baseball
Fan Engagement: Imagine if John Kruk had wearables and interacted directly with fans during the game. Players already sometimes wear microphones during the game, why not Airpods all the time? If not, then someone explain to me the difference between a microphone and Airpods? Why are we scared to let fans and athletes interact during the game? Sure there needs to be some boundaries around it, but the technology is there to do it. Imagine this, Altuve rounds 3rd and heads for home, he is mobbed by his teammate and his Airpods stayed in the whole time. (Apple make sure you chip me off a couple of points for the free marketing tip.)
Instant Replay: Yah baseball, you now have instant replay. Sometimes. Rarely. Ok it’s allowed once per game. Come on, YouTube built an empire around instant 10 second clips. Why isn’t instant replay used all the time? Why do umpires need to stop the game, walk over to a TV monitor, have someone else relay the links to them? They could have the video replay instantly on their Apple Watches. It would lead to quicker decisions more often. As a result, the quality of outcomes would go up and it would speed up play.
Voting: In-game voting would lead to significantly larger fan engagement. Suppose a manager is deciding on the shift or steal or to change pitchers. Fans could vote and the feedback could be sent to the manager. We already second guess decisions, we can just do it quicker and have more fun with it. Fans already vote in the All-Star game. Imagine if fans voted the manager’s decisions in the game. You could create a 5-second window for fans to vote on the decision, close the window and the outcome could be part of an All-Star game. Let’s try this and see where it goes!
Player Safety: Some might critique the wearables suggestions as it might negatively impact player safety. I would suggest it could go the other way. With wearables, player biometrics could be tracked and feedback and development plans could be built to improve player performance in a healthier proactive manner. As well, player mechanics could be measured and evaluated which would further enhance player development.
Betting and Tokens: Historically, betting and cheating in baseball has been one of the most sensitive topics in sports. But it is now time to park the past and embrace betting. With technology, baseball can do this in a manner that protects the integrity of the game while embracing betting while at the same time increasing fan engagement. Baseball should develop its own cryptocurrency or token. The benefits to baseball and the ability to drive fan engagement could be endless. Fans could bet tokens on each play. Winnings could be used to buy MLB merch. MLB could collect the data from the tokens and use it to create even better fan experiences. Tokens could carry coupons or game tickets or fan purchasing packages. Tokens could be tied to fans’ favorite players and their performances. The options to monetize fan and player behavior could get very interesting. As an example, players could earn endorsement money through IG, the more fans which follow, the more endorsement money. What if fans shared in the IG revenue with the player? This would incent more fans to follow. This could be all done with cryptocurrency. With cryptocurrency, because all the data is tracked and it is immutable, cheating would be either eliminated or instantly caught. With cryptocurrency, we wouldn’t have to wait for Pete Rose’s bookie to tell the story. It would be caught instantly and because of immutability, there could be no revisionist history.
The Astros’ cheating scandal is a big mess, a good old Big Texas mess. I get it, the MLB needs to deal with it and deal with the integrity issue. As they are doling out punishments, I just hope they don’t miss the opportunity. Yes, the stars are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas and equally so is the opportunity to embrace technology! I just hope the MLB can see the stars through all the dark clouds hovering around it right now.
Baseball Hall of Fame Houston Astros Los Angeles Times Houston Chronicle MLB.com/blogs Los Angeles Dodgers Yankees Magazine New York Mets Pete Rose Jose Altuve
