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CNN Live At Daybreak

Baseball Owners Vote to Eliminate Two Teams

Aired November 07, 2001 - 06:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to go ahead and check in on the health of America's national pastime, we're talking baseball. It is less than 48 hours after the climax of one of the best World Series in recent memory, and yet baseball owners are meeting and they have voted to eliminate two teams. That, as well as labor troubles on the horizon.

More now from CNN's Kara Henderson.

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KARA HENDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two days after a World Series that obliterated bedtimes, blurred eyes and showcased its best, baseball reminded fans that it is in fact a big business. On Tuesday, it announced a major layoff of its own.

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BUD SELIG, MLB COMMISSIONER: They are teams that we've judged to be not capable now or in the future of generating enough revenue to be a productive franchise.

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HENDERSON: Although contraction has been debated for over a year, Bud Selig refused to identify the candidates, saying the two teams haven't been chosen. All 30 Major League teams will continue selling season tickets, and the commissioner warned that moving teams to other cities wasn't a viable option.

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SELIG: We'd like to do it as soon as possible. There's so many moving parts to this puzzle that you know we're plowing historic ground here. Obviously no modern American sport has ever done this, and so we understand there are going to be a fair number of potholes along the way.

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HENDERSON: Montreal is considered the most likely franchise to fold. The Expos averaged just 7,648 fans this season, and three other teams with either fan support or stadium issues, Minnesota, Florida and Tampa Bay are at risk. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM VERDUCCI, CNN BASEBALL WRITER: Let's remember, these teams are not being contracted because they're not talented, it's all about generating revenues.

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HENDERSON: Contraction, which would be the first in Major League Baseball since 1899, wasn't the only news on Tuesday. Selig announced that owners wouldn't lock out players when the current labor contract expires Wednesday and that free agent signings would be permitted.

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VERDUCCI: The contraction issue is really kind of a preamble to the labor agreement. If in fact the players and the owners can work out a quick, successful contraction plan, that might actually help their relationship toward a labor deal.

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SELIG: And you have to adjust to the situations that you face. Is it a sad day after the World Series we've just had and the things we've done? No, I don't think it's a sad day at all.

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HENDERSON: Sad or not, Tuesday's news was significant. Another sign that bottom lines, not balls and strikes, rule the sport.

I'm Kara Henderson.

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