Quote:
Originally Posted by Cub42
MLB controls all endorsement and merchandise deals. The players and teams get a certain percentage of sales. Baseball is not like what you described or NASCAR where the individual teams negotiate there own deals.
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That's simply not the case. Players are free to strike shoe, bat, glove and sunglasses deals on their own. Do you think Jeter uses a Rawlings glove just because he likes the products, or the MLB directs him to? The Yankees get Adidas money, but Derek has a Nike deal. Naw, players have the option of chasing their own deals. All I'm saying is that the umpires should have the same right. As it stands, they're walking billboards with tons of TV time, and don't get paid for it. That's stupid on their part. Their union is either very naive in this matter, or too weak to stand up to the owners.
I talked to a MLB umpire about this earlier in the year. The guys are aware of the issue, and were hoping to get some flexibility on gear in this new deal. I wonder if that happened.
Kids, there's a reason Reebok put that huge white logo on their plate shoes. It's called product placement. They know the PU gets the most air time, and took advantage of it.