Dan Wetzel is a fine journalist for Yahoo Sports. He was part of the recent investigative team that exposed incredible misdeeds in the University of Miami football program. He has a great track record in the business.
He also has a controversial opinion about youth baseball. His idea: Pay the 12-year-olds who play in the Little League World Series.
It's not the first time he's explained this opinion, either. Yes, it sounds preposterous, but he does have some fuel for his fire. Namely that a TV network is airing an event put on by amateur kids, who are presented as playing for the love of the game (as they surely are) while the network rakes in millions. The TV ratings are strong, a late-summer diversion from preseason football and the dog days of the MLB season.
Disney, which owns ESPN and ABC, pays $3.7 million in rights fees to broadcast the games from Williamsport, Pa., and more and more of the regional games every year. (Interestingly, they don't broadcast games with older kids or younger ones - the 12-year-olds evidently hit some marketing sweet spot.)
"Disney has entire television networks and movie divisions filled with preteen actors, actresses, singers and dancers. It wouldn't dare think of not paying them.
"Yes, the core of Little League springs from the humble neighborhood sandlot, and that's great. Anyone appearing on the Disney Channel can also take part in a community theatre program or school choir. When they get to the big time, however, they get paid for their talents."
Decent point, but there's no practical way to set this up. And, unlike in college sports, there's been little outcry for these boys to get a check at the end. Little League is a nonprofit already (just as the NCAA is). And Little League had its bout with corruption nine years ago in the Danny Almonte scandal - do we really need to add a paid incentive to cheat?
I do agree that ESPN should give back as much as it takes. The families should get the expense-paid trip in full. Maybe they add a new college scholarship fund for past little leaguers, or a foundation to promote baseball in impoverished areas, for example. Because the Little League World Series has always felt a little exploitative to me on TV, and the commercialization of it is a big reason why.
On the field, a team from Huntington Beach, Calif., defeated Japan 2-1 to win the LLWS on Sunday, making it a run of six out of seven for American teams in the Little League World Series. California teams have won two of the last three.
Comments
To pay the players would make them ineligible for high school and college baseball.