I have to say, I am genuinely thrilled To
be able to say that Major League baseball is back
and we're gonna play 162 games. Um I do
want to start by apologizing to our fans. I
know that the last few months have been difficult.
There was a lot of uncertainty um, at a
point in time when there's a lot of uncertainty in
the world um sort of the way the process of
collective bargaining works sometimes, but I do apologize for
it. Um one of the good things about collective
bargaining is that it gives our players an opportunity ah
to have input on what their workplace and the game
is going to look like going forward and they took
full opportunity um to provide that input during these negotiations
. Um Our players are great, great athletes.
Um I respect them and I respect the input that
we received from them during this process and we really
did learn a lot looking forward. I could not
be more excited about the future of our game.
I think we have an opportunity in front of us
. I think it's an opportunity that we need to
work with the players to fully seize. Um But
I think that some of the things in the agreement
are really, really important in that regard. Um
I think the expanded playoff format will bring postseason baseball
and maybe even more importantly, exciting september baseball to
more markets. I think the balanced schedule will be
a real improvement for our fans. It'll give our
fans a greater opportunity to see all of the great
players in the game on a more regular basis.
And maybe most important is the agreement that we reached
with the MLB pIA and rule changes. Um,
I love our game. Having said that, um
, since I've been commissioner, I've talked about the
need, uh, to make changes in some of
our rules, to enhance the entertainment value of our
product, for the benefit of our fans. Uh
, and I think the new agreement opens an opportunity
that we can work with the players to make sure
that we make good rule changes. That works for
our fans, works for our players.