“It’s a very important time,” Henry said. “There are excellent candidates. I believe, given today’s world, that we need a businessman who understands more than the inherent problems of owners and of labor. That person must excel in understanding media, entertainment, competition and business as well as the sport. The game won’t automatically grow and it could well be disrupted by standing still.”
...
Asked what else could be done besides more rigid enforcement, he pointed to the game’s great conundrum.
“There are purists who think the lack of a clock is great thing,” he said. “But that relates to the fact that a game will go on until a winner is decided. Our internal clocks, our attention spans in (modern) America — have shortened markedly. We have to compete with other forms of entertainment.”
...
The chase for the attention of viewers and readers is the chief job of any content provider. With its slate of 2,430 regular-season games, MLB is a robust player in that sense, with a successful TV network and Internet presence overseen by the thriving Major League Baseball Advanced Media. Henry has devoted a substantial portion of his baseball time working with MLBAM to increase its influence. If viewers are choosing to click away from NESN or any televised baseball game, it is a big deal to him. The intersection of baseball and technology is priceless real estate, which is part of the reason Henry wants baseball’s next generation of leadership to capitalize on that crossroads opportunity.
Said Henry: “MLB needs to confront the realities of 21st century media. We need the game on phones and tablets. We need to reduce the amount of waiting between pitches. The NFL has done a tremendous job of adapting their games and schedules for television. Baseball in 2014 needs, in addition to a commissioner, a real CEO who is intently focused on forcing the sport to compete in a world that more and more belongs to those who can create, adapt, build and execute in a transformed entertainment world.
“Baseball didn’t have to compete with that much 30 years ago. But today, competition is changing. The video game world is bigger than movies now. The digital world will surpass the analog world across the board where it already hasn’t. Baseball, digitally, needs to be more about competing within the entertainment industry than about leveling the playing field.”
A level playing field within the game has been a primary concern of owners for some time. In 2009, Henry was fined when he complained that high-revenue teams were subsidizing smaller-revenue teams with hard-earned dollars that were not being reinvested appropriately into the product on the field.
The situation has improved.
“Revenue sharing is an important part of sports and baseball,” Henry said. “I don’t think baseball could live without it. A few years ago I observed that clubs on the receiving end had done better from a profit perspective than a competitive one, but that has changed since then. There has been a focus on putting dollars to work and all you have to do is look at the records of the Yankees and Red Sox over the last three years to at least partially see the impact.”