When the Lerners were officially introduced as the new owners of the Washington Nationals on May 4, President Stan Kasten stated the following:
We are going to become the next big sports phenomenon. And when we succeed, because every country in the world which plays baseball has a media presence here, we will be a phenomenon not just nationally, but internationally.
Ever since Kasten made that one statement, I’ve wondered how he would implement such a grand pronouncement. It was that quote which drew me to Alan M Klein’s Growing the Game: The Globalization of Major League Baseball. Klein tackles MLB’s globalization efforts by focusing on three organizations (the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, and the Commissioner’s Office) over a seven year period (1999-2005) spanning eight countries. His underlying point … “Major League Baseball’s efforts at globalization are not only provident for the future of the sport but also critical to its current prosperity.”
Before delving into the globalization of MLB, Klein first addresses the shortcomings of MLB’s domestic expansion of baseball. He highlights the successes MLB has seen over the past 5 years fail to acknowledge MLB’s fan base is not growing across all cultural lines commensurate to other professional sports. “MLB panders to those communities that can afford to go to their games rather than to those who produce its talent,” writes Klein. The efforts are underway to address these shortcomings with things like Revitalizing Baseball in the Inner-cities (RBI) which is working towards drawing more minorities to baseball.
Klein begins his analysis by splitting the globe into three different groups based on their baseball sophistication and the potential economic rewards they offer:
- Tier 1 are countries where baseball is mature and well-known; professional leagues exist; Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, and Japan
- Tier 2 are countries where the game is less developed but roots have been established; mostly amateur and semiprofessional teams; Italy, Australia, and the Netherlands
- Tier 3 are countries where tentative footing has been established, or the game has been recently introduced; South Africa, England, and Germany
MLB treats Tier 1 countries with an economic focus while Tier 2 and 3 countries require a more hands-on approach with Pitch, Hit and Run programs from youths and targeted MLB programming to not only introduce the players but much more importantly introduce the basics of the game. Klein highlights that MLB needs to find a way to metamorphisize into an international brand, something very tricky for a sport sold as “America’s pastime.”
One of the shining examples of fostering the international brand is the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are pioneers in the expansion of baseball beginning with their lead in integrating baseball all the way through their efforts to bring Japanese baseball to the United States. The Dodgers manias have run the gamut from Jackiemania (Robinson and African-Americans) to Sandymania (Koufax and a Jewish superstar) to Fernandomania (Valenzuela and Mexico) to Nomomania (Hideo and Japan). What underpins all of these international forays is one thing, marketing. The Dodgers have not wasted their opportunities internationally, capitalizing from a marketing standpoint wherever they have made their presence known around the globe. From Spanish-language TV/radio to advertising locally in Japan, the Dodgers have made every effort to bring the Dodgers brand name to new locales.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the small market Kansas City Royals, who due to economic challenges have been forced to learn how to “shop without a credit card.” They introduced the first MLB academy (within the US) driven to not only find and develop overlooked talent but also provide them with an outside of baseball education. This academy is the template MLB is trying to duplicate with their RBI program. Additionally, the Royals have been forced to beat the bushes in places like the Dominican Republic in order to find higher risk/reward players that the more established (read, large market) teams may have missed. Kansas City has also struck out into the Tier 3 areas that most MLB teams ignore due to the lack of a fundamental baseball foundation. The Royals have become the face of baseball in a place like South Africa, where they spend more time/money teaching the South Africans how to play baseball rather than culling an established talent pool for potential major league talent.
Klein then turns the lens from MLB and its teams to the countries where the globalization efforts are working or other areas where there is still much work to accomplish. The Dominican Republic (DR) is the 800 pound gorilla internationally. Baseball is an industry in the DR. From their locally bankrolled academies to the overwhelming influence of buscones, the DR has provided a near endless pipeline of not only major leaguers, but more importantly major league stars. Japan was his next focus, where he detailed the love/hate relationship Japanese professional baseball has with MLB. Nippon Professional Baseball sees MLB as competition but cannot seem to escape the need to cultivate a pipeline for players from MLB (e.g. Randy Bass or Cecil Fielder) while at the same time reaping an economic benefit of their posting system, selling the right to negotiate with Japanese players to MLB (e.g. Ichiro Suzuki). Klein then investigates MLB’s European and South African presences where the focus is economic, but more grassroots. MLB is attempting to cultivate a fan base/talent pool in these countries in hopes of uncovering new revenue streams through developing hometown favorites for these countries to identify with.
Klein does a remarkable job of painting the picture of where MLB is and recommends several steps of where MLB needs to go to globalize the sport. It is certainly worth the read for anyone interested in an expanded view of MLB as a business entity and what you could expect as part of the globalization effort.
How does this all apply to what Stan Kasten wants to do with the Nationals?
The signing of Esmailyn Gonzalez was an important first step. But what is of considerable more value is the relationship with Jose Rijo in the Dominican Republic. It cannot be understated how important a local presence is to establishing roots within a country. While we are left to wait to see if Gonzalez develops as the Nationals hope, Kasten has taken the most important step towards cultivating a successful Dominican presence.
While the Dominican process is underway, there is an equally important relationship that requires the Nationals attention in Asia. This is not only from a player development perspective but also (and probably more importantly to ownership) an economic perspective. While the assigning of scout Bill Singer in Asia to identify prospective players is beneficial, there is much more to be done to truly put Kasten’s international pronouncements into reality. What the Nationals need to do in Asia, specifically Japan is to identify their “Jose Rijo” there. Succes will be hard to come by if they do not identify a local presence there as a conduit to ultimate success. There remains in Japan a fear/mistrust of gaijin and that can realistically only be alleviated by cultivating a relationship with a Japanese team. The New York Yankees have such a relationship with the Yomouri Giants. Their relationship includes exchanges of information regarding players, coaching methods (inlcuding coach exchange programs), and the identifying of players by both sides in an unofficial sort of player exchange at the minor league level. The Yankees have even built on this Asian partnership by entering into a relationship with Chinese baseball. The Nationals must enter into a similar type of arrangement if they hope to compete on an international scale.
Finally, as odd as it sounds, the Nationals need to take a lesson from the Kansas City Royals. They need to think outside of the box and foster a grassroots effort in Tier 3 countries. They need to identify an untapped or underserved area, such as Spain or Brazil or India and become the face of baseball there. Their designs should be to open up the game to new fans who think of the Washington Nationals when they think about baseball.