🫥 The Dodgers’ Most Popular Fan Doesn’t Exist

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I firmly believe that if you have a Southern accent, you can get away with anything. Don’t believe me?

Just look at the NFL’s favorite good ol’ boy, Brett Favre.

Until recently, I would bet that very few people knew why he was in the news after retiring, but after a few days of research, I realized the full story was way wilder than I had ever expected.

That Southern charm might be starting to wear off.

In today’s newsletter:

🗞 The Big Story: Why MLB Pitchers Hate These $20K/mo Machines

📉 Biggest Loser: How U.S. Soccer Made $25M by… Losing?

🏆 Winner’s Circle: The Dodgers’ Most Popular Fan Doesn’t Exist

🗞 The Big Story

MLB teams are paying $20,000 per month for this revolutionary new machine, but some pitchers want it banned…

Background: Just this year, MLB approved the use of the Trajekt Arc for in-game use, meaning players can warm up with it in the batting cage before their next at-bat.

The machine, which features a nearly 8-foot-high screen, mimics the exact delivery, release point, and spin of every MLB pitcher using publicly available Hawk-Eye data and video recordings that the league has been collecting since 2006.

Currently, the company has deals with 20 of the 30 MLB teams, and some teams have as many as six machines between their home and away cages at the major and minor league levels.

Too Good? One Trajekt Arc costs $15,000-$20,000 per month to lease and requires a three-year commitment, but that’s not why it’s upsetting so many pitchers.

According to ESPN, dozens of pitchers across the league are upset that batters now can take live at-bats against them right before they step into the box.

One pitcher anonymously noted that “it’s impossible for a pitcher to mimic the at-bat,” which gives the batter the upper hand if they’ve been training on the machine.

Truth in Data: However, hitters say it’s not that simple because while the machine is helpful, they’ve also said they train on it for too long before their hands start getting sore from the high velocities.

Some hitters have even said it’s hard to pick up the spin from the machine and that the hologram image on the front isn’t as accurate as live reps.

And the data backs them up.

The league-wide batting average is currently the third-lowest ever since 1900.

• 1968: The year before the mound was lowered (.237)

• 1908: The Heart of the Dead Ball Era (.239)

• 2024: (.242)

However, the longer these machines are around and the more data they collect on pitchers, the better they’ll mimic the real thing. So maybe it’s only a matter of time before hitters regain the upper hand.

📉 Biggest Loser

U.S. Men’s Soccer is about to get paid over $25 million for losing in the Copa America. Let’s break it down.

Background: Every four years, the country that hosts the tournament is paid by all the teams that attend. Part of that money is meant to go towards a prize pool, with the rest being given directly to the host country’s soccer federation.

For example, in 2016 (when America last hosted the tournament), the US Soccer Federation earned a mind-boggling $75 million, which upset the other countries who thought the U.S. was given too high a percentage of the total pool.

This and other notable scandals eventually resulted in many of the North and South American soccer officials responsible for organizing the 2016 tournament being arrested for bribery.

Revised Structure: This year, the participating countries across both continents ensured the U.S. wasn’t getting more than its fair share.

To do this, they drastically reduced the fee U.S. Soccer received for hosting the tournament while adding an incentive based on ticket sales.

U.S. Soccer also received $2M just for participating in Copa America, and they would have gotten more if they had advanced to the knockout rounds.

Remember that per the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement:

• 70% of that money goes to the players

• 9% is split with the women’s team

• The remaining 21% goes to the federation

By the end of the weekend, U.S. Soccer will have earned:

• $10M for hosting the tournament

• 5% of all ticket sales (An estimated $10M-$15M)

• $2M for participating in the tournament

Bringing their total payout to upwards of $27M. Not bad for only winning one game.

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🏆 Winner’s Circle

The Dodgers’ most famous fan may not be real, but she could help the team earn millions of new fans…

Gawr Guara: Last week, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Japanese brand Hololive teamed up to bring popular VTuber (virtual YouTuber) Gawr Gura to Dodger Stadium, where the anime character shouted out the traditional “It’s Time for Dodger Baseball” and even sang ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.’

On the surface, this might seem like an odd collaboration, but it’s genius for two reasons.

Reason #1—Exposure: Gura is the most popular VTuber in the world, boasting 4.5 million subscribers on YouTube, more than the Dodgers have combined on YouTube and Instagram.

The announcement of the promotion alone generated 3.4 million views on X.

But the more interesting part is that Gura’s fan base overlaps quite well with the demographics the Dodgers hope to reach.

Reason #2—Ideal Demo: Half of the animated character’s YouTube viewers are age 24 or younger, and 90% are male, giving the Dodgers access to a demographic that has become increasingly difficult for MLB teams to attract.

And this promotion at the ballpark didn’t just give that large online audience exposure to the Dodgers and newly acquired Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Because the MLB club also offered collaborative trading card sets around Gura, which are already going for $125 on eBay, while T-shirts are currently selling for as high as $195.

Given the potential crossover of a Japanese audience that loves anime characters like Gura and baseball, the Dodgers might have just found a way to get millions of new fans interested in their team.

⏱ In Other News

• He Was America’s Favorite Quarterback, Then He Got Caught

• I’ve been praying on RicoKnows’ downfall. It’s here.

• NBA ratings are down while broadcast revenue goes up.

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👋 Happy Friday.

We’ve reached the fateful weekend where I get to meet my MJ: Savannah Bananas Owner Jesse Cole.

I need question suggestions before Saturday, so respond with some ideas.