MLB's Field Of Dreams Game Is A Cash Cow

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Hey Friends,

Major League Baseball (MLB) has aggressively worked over the last several years to solve one specific problem: an aging fanbase.

The average age of a Major League Baseball fan went from 52 years old in 2000 to 57 years old by 2017, according to a study by Sports Business Journal. That’s significantly older than the NBA (42 years old), the NHL (49 years old), and the NFL (50 years old).

Average Age Of Fans By League

• MLB: 57 years old

• NFL: 50 years old

• NHL: 49 years old

• NBA: 42 years old

The league has implemented new pace of play rules to shorten games, which now take more than 3 hours to complete on average. They have cracked down on pitchers using illegal substances, potentially combating the multi-decade rise in strikeout rates. And they have even started to work with social media influencers to attract a younger generation of fans to their sport.

But those things are difficult to quantify when it comes to actually increasing viewership, so that’s why I think one decision, in particular, has been even more impactful than the rest — I’m talking about the Field of Dreams Game.

Major League Baseball hosted its first Field of Dreams game last year in Dyersville, Iowa. The field is set next to the historic filming site of the beloved 1989 baseball movie Field of Dreams, and it was a massive success.

Fun Fact: The temporary stadium holds 8,000 people, but the city of Dyersville only has a population of 4,509 residents — which means the ballpark holds nearly 2x as many people that actually live there.

Last year, the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees with a Tim Anderson walk-off homerun, and fans enjoyed a plethora of fireworks before heading home. But here’s the interesting part: the game averaged 5.87 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched MLB regular season game in more than 15+ years.

And even crazier, Fox made $5.24 million in ad revenue during the game — that’s 3x more than what the network typically makes for its Saturday night MLB games.

So it’s no surprise that Major League Baseball decided to bring the Field of Dreams game back for a second year. Sure, the matchup isn’t as enticing—the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs are a combined 42 games under .500—but Joey Votto and Ian Happ will be wearing two-way mics during the game, tickets are still going for anywhere between ~$600 to $1,000-plus, and Fox is reportedly asking $250,000 for 30-second TV ads during the game — Fox says they have already secured more than $7 million in ad revenue for this year’s game, making it the highest revenue generating baseball game in Fox history.

And if you don’t watch tonight’s game, you’ll have to wait at least 24 months for another opportunity. That’s baseball Hall of Famer and White Sox great Frank Thomas’ company, This is Heaven LLC, acquired a controlling interest in the field, and Major League Baseball has already announced they won’t play in 2023 while construction is taking place.

Why? Because by 2025, Frank Thomas plans to have nine fields, team dorms, a hotel, a 100,000-square-foot fieldhouse, an outdoor concert amphitheater, an RV park, and trails in the cornfields added to the historic site.

So enjoy it while it lasts, because the venue will look completely different two years from now.

Have a great day. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.

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