We’ll have to wait and see, but several news stories are reporting challenges that are hampering the launch of the inaugural season for the start-up East Coast Baseball League. Read more here, here, and here. Thanks to John Cerone for the heads up.
Start of ECBL’s Inaugural Season Delayed?
Filed under League & Franchise
ballparkbiz.wordpress.com 
Get leases n sell tickets is usually a good way to make a loop work IMO
And so it takes money, and lots of it, to run a baseball club, much less a league. Who knew?
I hate to see teams and leagues go under, because it weakens the credibility of indy ball in general. But all the warning signs are there. Pay cuts on contracted players making a league max of $800? Those guys are jumping ship as soon as they can find a bottom-rung indy league to take them. Money is going to run out? Nearly everybody loses money in year one… and two… and three. You want to turn a profit, sell the team. That’s how you turn a profit.
Somebody initially had a great idea, but didn’t check his wallet or figure out a plan to succeed in markets where others failed. TP, this league doesn’t survive to its second payday, does it?
There’s nothing about “creating a low-rent independent league playing in crappy, failed summer-collegiate markets” that is a “great idea.” It was a stupid idea to begin with, created by naive dreamers.
And when these dreamers ignored the experienced people who told them “this is a stupid idea,” and instead cluelessly forged on, they created the dumpster fire that they now have on their hands.
Ditto that eastfirst107! It isn’t a ‘great idea”. Unfortunately, there is no overall governing body for independent ball and that allows those “naive dreamers” to crank up a league with little more than a website or facebook page. There are a couple of other leagues out there right now that look to be impending disasters.
well said. An absolute joke and it truly is a dumpster fire. No one in the real baseball world ever thought this was a good idea. And they were right
Up next — the Mount Rainier Professional Baseball League, with opening day May 21:
http://mrpbl.pointstreaksites.com/view/mrpbl/events-295/?month=05&year=2015
As far as Ozark Pro Baseball/Heartland of America Professional Baseball League goes, I have plenty to say but haven’t had a chance to draft the necessary long, comprehensive response to “Art,” but I can assure you it won’t be favorable and will challenge him on all fronts.
Alan
Not to give these guys any credit, but if we are to completely dismiss any market that has lost a team from consideration for a future team in indy or college, we would be ignoring the success of Madison (three-time loser), Evansville (one-time loser) and other markets in which affiliated or independent teams were unsuccessful, but new college or indy teams in old stadiums, with new capital and new ideas, generated new fans.
Agree. There are many factors. While past failure can be a marker, it’s not determinative.
Alan
IMO expansion by 1 , league alliances that have massive travel bills and traveling rd shows have hurt the cred of Indy ball which is a shame
I never want to see opportunities for players not coming thru. But, this has been a scam since day one. Indy ball is tough and to pull it off it takes at least a full year of planning. The league from what I am reading owns all the teams but one and all the markets are perennial losers. Sounds like a few people wanting to play commissioner and not having remotely close to the financial or administrative abilities to do so.