UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, August 18, 1997
15B
League realignment a hit with fans, report states
Changes might boost attendance
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — According to baseball's pollster, fans favor league realignment by a 2-1 margin, and casual fans would go to games more often if there was a radical change.
"The prospective shift to the geographic realignment plan is in sync with major league baseball's overall strategy and goal of reaching out to casual fans, minorities and younger fans," concludes the 37-page report, presented to owners July 30 by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, the polling firm used by the Clinton administration.
Owners are expected to try to decide the issue when they meet in Atlanta from Sept. 16-18. No team may be forced to shift leagues against its will, meaning any one of 17 teams can block the proposal.
"Its logic is overwhelming when you think about it," acting commissioner Bud Selig said. "Like everything in life, it has its pluses and minuses. We believe the pluses far outweigh the minuses. This is returning to our roots. This is that way it was."
Several sources have said there was opposition within the NL, with the Mets, Braves, Pirates, Cubs and Reds said to be opposed. But Selig is trying to line up the votes.
"It's almost club by club," Selig said. "Every franchise is different. Every market is different."
Nine teams would shift from the AL to the NL and eight would move the other way. Each team would play about 93 games against teams within its division, about 48 games against the other division in its league, and 21 against teams in the other leagues.
"The research also shows that there will be no drop-off in attendance among traditionalists, the core of baseball fans," according to the report, a copy of which was obtained
"The suggestion is strong here that given the enhanced interest in attending games, major league baseball will probably be able to recoup most, if not all, of its loss in attendance it has suffered since the strike."
Under the most radical plan owners are considering, baseball would realign into two leagues of two divisions each, with the Eastern timezone teams most probably in the AL and the rest in the NL. Under that plan, the divisions would be:
AL East—Baltimore, Boston, Montreal, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia, Toronto:
AL South-Midwest—Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Florida, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh;
NL Central—Chicago Cubs,
Chicago White Sox, Houston, Kansas
City, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St.
Louis and Texas;
NL West—Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle.
The nationwide poll of a 801 fans, taken July 20-21, showed realignment was favored strongly or somewhat by 62 percent after they heard arguments for and against it, with 31 percent strongly or somewhat opposed.
Fans, by a 59-40 percent margin, agreed that realignment would destroy the continuity of league records and the historical makeup of the two leagues. Fans also said they would increase their attendance from an average of 3.5 games per season to 5 if the realignment plan took effect.
"What the poll really showed is it is going to get the casual fans back," Doug Schoen said Thursday in an interview. "I figured maybe a slight majority would favor realignment, but in the focus groups there was real
Poll results
These are some of the 94 questions asked in the survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates that was commissioned by baseball owners. The survey of 801 avid and moderate fans 16 years or older was taken July 20-21 and has an error margin of plus or minus 3.46 percent (figures rounded to nearest percentage point):
After listening to a description of the realignment plan and arguments for and against it, fans were asked their opinion:
Strongly favor : 32 percent
Somewhat favor: 30 percent
Somewhat oppose: 16 percent
Strongly oppose: 15 percent
Don't know: 7 percent
After being told the realignment plan would destroy the continuity of league records and end the historical nature of the AL and NL, fans were asked if this was a reason to oppose realignment:
Strongly convincing; 30 percent
Somewhat convincing; 29 percent
Not very convincing: 22 percent Not convincing at all: 18 percent
't know: 1 percent
Don't know: 1 percent Fans were asked if they were more likely to attend games after a geographic realignment:
Much more likely: 30 percent Somewhat more likely: 30 per cent
Somewhat less likely: 13 percent
Much less likely: 14 percent Don't know: 13 percent Source: The Associated Press
enthusiasm for geography."
enthusiasm for geography." In a further effort to gauge opinion, Penn, Schoen & Berland also conducted two focus groups each in Cleveland, New York, Miami and San Francisco.
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