On August 14, Rob Manfred was elected as the successor to Bud Selig and, in January 2015, will become just the tenth Commissioner in baseball history. Whilst Selig, a definitive figurehead in the game’s exponential growth and modernization, changed the very face of baseball during his 22 years in office, Manfred inherits a situation not without uncertainty.
The National Football League, a true juggernaut which satisfies the capricious desires of contemporary sports fans, provides major competition for attendance and interest. Likewise, the NBA, in all its ferocious, instantaneous glory, caters to a new generation with the shortest attention span in human history, further depleting the popularity of America’s National Pastime.
Whilst record revenues of $8 billion suggest an industry in fine health, baseball, naturally slow and monotonous, is struggling to reinvent itself in this hyperactive, techno-charged era. Games are long; seasons are seemingly interminable; and offensive production has reached a nadir unseen in generations.
Manfred will be charged with finding a solution to these problems upon assuming office, in addition to maintaining labor peace, fine-tuning the instant replay system, and rectifying franchise issues in Oakland and Tampa.
Quickly, it becomes clear that the incoming Commissioner will be a very busy man. To help him out, here are five major issues he should initially prioritize, for the short-term resurrection, and long-term prosperity, of Major League Baseball.