For the past 15 years, virtually all of the revenue generated by this website came from banner ads. Though ad rates had been dropping prior to 2020, we’ve also seen an increase in traffic to make up for it. Free websites supported only by advertising seemed to be a thing of the past, but the model was working well enough for us.
Then COVID-19 hit, reducing MLBTR’s year-over-year traffic by over 40% since mid-March. On top of that, ad rates decreased similarly. In April, I wrote a post explaining our situation. I was heartened by the response in the comments. Many longtime readers urged me to create a way to support the website directly.
Given the devastation of COVID-19, the status of a baseball website is not high on anyone’s priority list. We’ll be covering this strange 2020 MLB season with the same devotion we’ve had for hot stove news over the past 15 years. The free, ad-supported MLBTR remains unchanged. But for those regular readers who have the means and desire to support MLBTR directly, we’ve created Trade Rumors Front Office.
For $29.99 per year, Trade Rumors Front Office provides the following benefits:
- Ad-free, faster viewing experience on MLB Trade Rumors, Hoops Rumors, Pro Football Rumors, Pro Hockey Rumors, and in the Trade Rumors iOS/Android app. Please note that we may need about a week to perfect the removal of ads from the app. The ad removal will work instantly after sign-up on the four websites.
- Exclusive member-only online chats with our expert MLB writers every week. Steve Adams, Jeff Todd, Connor Byrne, and Mark Polishuk will still be doing their regular chats at MLBTR each week, open to all readers. But each week one of them will do an additional chat exclusive to members of Trade Rumors Front Office. Fewer participants means an increased chance of getting your question answered.
- An exclusive Trade Rumors Front Office badge will be displayed when you comment on MLBTR.
- Most importantly, you’ll be supporting MLBTR directly and helping to ensure our longevity and growth.
The launch of Trade Rumors Front Office is a big moment for MLBTR. If you love this website, please consider subscribing!
Great idea! Definitely plan on subscribing
This is something I definitely would have considered before MLBTR began closing comments on the most interesting articles. Now I just don’t spend enough time on the site to justify it.
You do you. I’ll be subscribing.
They closed comments on domestic violence articles because people would argue about the severity and seriousness of DV.
They closed comments on COVID articles because people would argue about politics and downplay the seriousness of the virus.
It’s their site, and if they don’t want to be associated with that kind of discussion, good for them.
I agree with you, but it’s also his $30, and if he doesn’t want to spend it on a site he enjoys less because of new policies, good for him.
I’m somewhat on that same wagon. The comments about banning people from judgment calls rubbed me the wrong way. On the article about closing comments sections, I questioned how judgment call bans would work and talked about how that might not be a great idea. My intention was non combative, pretty sure I didnt come across angry or anything, definitely didn’t curse or type in all caps. Came back an hour later and my comment had been deleted. Before that I woulda spent the 30 bucks pretty freely. But that just seemed ridiculous. And if offering a civil discussion different perspective might get me banned on a ‘judgment call’ whim? No way in the world am I going to pay.
“…downplay the seriousness of the virus.”
Or overstate the seriousness of the virus. There is a lot of hype on both sides of the spectrum.
@Halo11Fan:
No, there isn’t. There is no hype on the ‘the virus is serious’ side. Countries that took it seriously have all but eliminated it. Countries, like the US, that have foolishly and inexplicably downplayed the seriousness of it are not only still dealing with it, but are perhaps worse off now than they were months ago.
Do you like sports? Do you want sports to be able to happen? Then stop spreading lies like this. The virus is serious. Period.
Good move!
Not paying for anything knowing my comments may or may not get posted. Sorry.
Are they worth other people even reading? I don’t mean that to you directly, but more of a rhetorical question.
Whether it’s on here, Twitter, or elsewhere, people who are bothered the most need to ask “does MLBTR need to read my amazing thoughts?”
Usually, the answer is “no”. People over-estimate the importance of what they have to say.
Most of the people that are offended the most by certain threads being closed for comments usually end up being the ones that provide the least amount of insight with their posts.
It sounds like you might want to stick to Twitter, if seeing your words on the computer screen is more important than supporting this website.
If you are worried about your comments getting deleting, chances are you are part of the problem.
Well, as stated above, I clearly disagree. I made an on-topic comment regarding a shaky “at discretion” comment, and suggested that it’s probably best to go the original route – just turn off comments for COVID related news articles. That was really all my comment that got deleted said. I’m perfectly fine with keeping things ‘on topic’. But when an on-topic response gets deleted just because it legitimately asks what the status of “judgment call” actually means… that lends more to the thought that the “judgment calls” are going to be awfully strict.
Which again. Their site, their prerogative. Just ostracizes enough that I won’t spend my money on that.
Awesome idea! I look forward to subscribing and pointing out to every non-subscriber that I am, indeed, a subscriber as noted by my Front Office badge!
Would love to subscribe. Just wish you could subscribe on a per-sport basis for a cheaper fee. Id gladly throw $10 for JUST MLBTR as I have no interest in hoops or football.
definitely agree with Matt. I only have interest in baseball and not other sports.it would be nice if you could lower the price for access to one sport – $10
and then another price $30 for the entire site
I am guessing 90% of commenters are for baseball. I suspect the price would be more like 25 for baseball and 10 or 15 each for the others. I don’t know if I have ever been on the hockey site and I spend most of my time on baseball. A little on fball and bkball. .
Cheaper than $2.50 per month?
Yes.
I agree. A per sport option would be ideal. Thanks for all you have offered us for free in the past I will subscribe as well if you can offer just the MLBTR
I would like 1 sport too, but I actually do appreciate that they are doing it this way. Shows me that they aren’t trying to cynically take money from the readers, but are instead looking to raise support for the site. Similar to a Patreon fundraiser.
That being said, I’d jump on a discounted rate for MLBTR over the entire TR network! $15/year or $2/month for one sport would be a great pricing strategy for you guys. Just saying!
I also agree with Matt. Baseball is the only sport I follow and I’d be happy to support MLBTR.
To be honest I would charge this same price if it was just MLBTR. It’s more that the other three websites are included as a benefit rather than them contributing to the price.
That said, for those who can’t or don’t want to spend $30 right now, of course we respect that.
OK then.
But don’t you have to pay the writers for those other sports? I’ve never visited those, so I’m utterly disinclined to subsidize them at all.
I did the subscription because I appreciate all you do. It’s definitely worth the price to support you and your staff. Even though one of your writers total discredited themselves by revealing in a chat they had never watched caddy shack, I hope you deal with that sort of incompetence severely!
BEST $30 –I have Spent all year.
Keep up the great work.
A good way to make subscribers feel good might be to tell us how many people signed up within 24 hrs of this posting. People feel good as part of a growing affinity group.
Is there a patreon or donation option that isn’t fixed price? What about those of us who honestly don’t care about ads that much ( this is really the only place I see them ) but could offer a few bucks here and there to support you guys as well!
I also wish they had this option. I don’t care if its $29 just for MLB and $30 for all. I have ZERO interest in the other parts of the site and would like to just support the MLB portion. I don’t even really think the other sites are worth a penny to me personally.
I’m a bit confused, guys. It’s not as though “supporting” the other sites happens in a vacuum or something. The thirty dollars all goes to the same place. Naturally, MLBTR is overwhelmingly the most prominent component of the package of sites. The others don’t, and likely can’t, live without it. The money goes to support everything that goes into making this entire, awesome thing work.
Been a dedicated reader since the very beginning; I’ll be subscribing! Thanks for everything, guys.
New and improved
What do you mean by “faster viewing experience?” As in the news is immediately given to you?
No…the website will load faster with no ads.
I think ad blockers have already taken care of that; I haven’t seen an ad in years on here. I don’t really participate in the chats (since only 1 or 2 of the writers are worth chatting with), but I’d like to donate.
Could somebody give a “gift” subscription? If I pay a yearly fee, can I have it applied to some random commenter? I don’t necessarily care if I’m noted as a supporter with my badge, and the page loads just fine for me, but I DEFINITELY want to support it.
We would like this to be an alternative to ad blockers for those who can afford it, Unfortunately we haven’t built an infrastructure for gift subscriptions at this point.
All good Tim. I’ll be subscribing soon.
Will you do more chats yourself? That would be a nice incentive to subscribe.
Does that mean that when you do, you are going to gift me a subscription? Thanks Tim! Your a solid bloke.
Love it. So happy to support the website and the different platforms of sports rumors for the other leagues. This is great for me as the only ‘rumor’ / news websites I view daily are the ones you guys provide. I would hate to see any of these sites have to be disbanded. Count me in as a supporter!
Done! Easy decision, great and unique content that is always up to date.
Great idea! I’ll be subscribing at some point. One thing I’d love to see is a Discord group or something like it for members to talk baseball.
I just subscribed, is there anything I need to do to get the ads to disappear from my app?
iOS or Android?
IOS
You’ll need to download the latest update from the App Store and make sure you’re logged in in the app. Yesterday we found that the home screen ad can still persist after this, and in the short-term you’ll need to quit and re-launch the app to ensure all ads disappear.
We’re pushing out another update this week to fix that bug though.
Thanks Tim, I’m updated, but ads still exist. Will wait for the update.
And at 30$ your giving Apple 10$ right ?
I don’t know. I subscribed but don’t use the app. I log in on the web site. Apple shouldn’t be getting anything from me for this. They got plenty for my computer and my phone anyway.
Good start, but how about adding Exclusive member-only online chats with authors? For instance, Keith Law has a new book out “The Inside Game”. Many authors do publicity radio shows and blogs to promote their books. Having Keith Law on and asking him questions such as “What are some of the stories that did not make the book?” would be great.
I’m personally a fan of Keith’s, but I’d like to have the benefits of membership coming from our staff rather than attempting something like that. Plus FWIW I think Keith holds free chats at his website.
I do hope to expand the benefits of membership at some point in the future.
I think The Athletic likes to keep their talent on a pretty short leash.
If something offers me value, I pay for it. I don’t expect things for free. I subscribe to Fangraphs, Baseball Reference and i will subscribe to this.
I like this idea and I think that it could help benefit the site’s growth (I’ve been following it for a couple years now), but for readers who can’t subscribe (my parents won’t let me spend money online) it’s a bit disheartening to hear that I’ll be missing out on chats and information on the site. However, I suppose it’s a small price to pay considering the costs and expenses to run such an active and informative site. Best of luck to MLBTR in the future and I sincerely hope that this will become a bigger and better thing for even more readers to find and utilize/enjoy.
I wouldn’t say you’ll be missing out on information…we’re not changing the way we post or doing a paywall or anything like that. And there will still be plenty of chats with Steve, Jeff, and Connor that are open to all.
True, thanks for the clarification, Tim.
Tim, do any of you or your guys have experience in marketing this sort of offer? I appreciate you want to keep the whole subscription thing as simple as possible, but there are ways of maximising this whilst still offering considerable perks to your client base.
You’re welcome to use my personal (submitted) e-mail and I’ll forward you ideas. By the largely positive feedback you’re speaking to the converted already.
And I’ll be one of the subscribers if you give me time to get home (I take it you’re ok with UK sterling?) The queen looks a bit ropey on the notes these days, but time waits for no man, or monarch…..
Subscribed.
No mention of Mark P in the comments or in the initial post, is he done doing chats now or what?
Dude….. is it you x ? Just who is Xabial ? Where did he go? Who does he post as now? It’s intriguing to me.
🙂
Lol I love it.
It’s like the secret of the fox. It will always be a mystery.
Dude you for that right smh lol
Great idea and will sign up by end of day.
Any options for a gift subscription as well? Seems like an idea option for baseball fans.
$30 bucks is a bit steep. Should let people choose which ones they want to subscribe to- mlb, nfl, nhl, nba. $8 bucks for each or $30 for everything.
Will there be an MLS website or soccer website in general added in the future?
Will comment sections be open to people who pay or will comment sections still be closed off to everyone?
Personally, I don’t see ad free, additional chats, and a badge worth $30 a month.
Maybe toss around the ideas of exclusive content such as members only mail bag (what topics would you like to see written) and publish one or two a week, members only access to in depth international leagues notes and updates, members only access to see live scores on this page? That an option?
*$30 per year
Oh year? Totally misread that. Yeah that’s reasonable. Nevermind.
Roseanne Rosannadanna is apparently alive and well……
I feel that $30/year is a reasonable price just for MLB, so I don’t plan to unbundle and offer a cheaper option.
We’re not planning to add a soccer website.
The comment section will remain open to everyone.
At some point I’ll be polling members as to what additional benefits they’d like to see. But I’d likely wait to add until the site bounces back financially.
For once in my long life of disagreeable behavior, I agree.
I’m sorry, but if I have to pay 30 dollars a year, I need a Quidditch site. I heard Ruther Starling aqquired a new broomstick last week, and since he will no longer be getting splinters , I expect him to dominate the league.
lol
I’d pay $1.00 a month, or $10 a year – for MLB only. I view it as not so much what I can “afford”, as I don’t want to subsidize the overall finances of the TradeRumours enterprise, writ large. I do not use, nor do I intend to use any of those other services. Those people have to get paid too, just not by me.
It’s the 2020’s – unbundle it and charge those readers (separately) too.
MLBTR as-is works great for me, and I have no compelling desire for the listed upgrades. I’d pay $10 a year, ONLY to be supportive and appreciative.
If I decided that every free-content site that I frequent should collect $30 a year from me, then I’d be shelling out about $600 a year for them. I already subscribe to 3 different fully paid news sites that provide massive amounts of wide-ranging content.
For something as non-essential (to me anyway) as MLBTR – I humbly suggest you make it a la carte. Otherwise, I’ll continue to frequent this site for updates as I always have, without subsidizing it – until or unless that’s no longer viable for MLBTR. Because I definitely can live without it.
(BTW, The Athletic, which I paid for once but no longer – should do the same thing. I’m not going to pay for the content all the other sports that I don’t follow.)
But I’d also say that for those that follow all (or even most) of the major sports closely, that $30 a year for TradeRumors, seems a very reasonable price. Just not for me.
Thanks and good luck!
It’s a reasonable price for just baseball, the others that I don’t care about were thrown in for free.
Look through the couch cushions for the rest of the finances to ‘subsidize’ the other sports. Such a fun hill many of you all have chosen to die on. I have a feeling that if they had offered the MLBTR for $2.50/month, there would be no complaints as it is not much. But the fact that they threw in the others has made people lose their minds.
To each his own.
I’m not dying on any hills and I’m not complaining. I don’t see anyone else here complaining either. You’re complaining though – about other people’s POV’s that you’re choosing to mischaracterize and get snarky about.
So you be careful now, because you sound like you might be losing your own mind a little.
Just don’t get yourself all triggered there tiger. Deep breaths, deep breaths.
You are a weird dude man… 🙂
Very happy new subscriber here. I also only want the baseball, but who cares. This is good value for baseball alone and I’m really happy to be able to disable my ad blocker, which I’ve used for years.
$30 is well worth the value of the information. Already subscribed.
Great idea, Tim. I might also suggest a re-launch of the MLBTR podcast for subscribers. You could set it up through Patreon to ensure only people who are “patrons” can access that content.
Pathetic, and unamusing.
Business isn’t always fun due to also being called work.
Entitled child. You wouldn’t act like this if you walked into a grocery store. Why behave so childishly when something is being sold online?
This is great, the amount of time I’ve spent on these websites over the last several years is astounding so I am happy to give back a little.
Hey, no adds. I’m happy already.
As an almost hourly checker of the website, well worth the money. As for the chats, I usually just read the transcript afterwards because I’m sure there’s so many questions being asked there’s no way for you guys to answer even 1% of them. That’s a nice little perk to have a better shot at winning the lottery.
I’ll pay the $30 easy just to support this website, no problem. But I don’t really like the idea that I’m supporting other sites about other sports. Financing should be more targeted. When you hand over money for anything, product or service, you’re voting, saying “yes, this is of value and I want it to continue”. Absolutely love MLBTR. But to show my support, I have to support 3 other sites I will never visit? Just to be clear, I’m still going to subscribe and hand over the $30, but should have the option of where I want my funds to go.
Is this site worth 2.50 a month? If it is, pay it. If it’s not, don’t.
Just think about this site. I don’t look at other Trade Rumor sites.
Well, it’s all one company and I’m the sole owner, for what it’s worth.
Why didn’t you guys add a 2.99/mo option in addition to the annual one?
I did consider that but ultimately just simplicity.
It’d be a great idea moving forward. Your business is in trouble, so is a lot of America. I’m an essential worker and I’m having trouble making ends meet. I could spare $3 monthly, but $30 in one lump some makes me feel like I gotta skip a couple lunches. I will end up subscribing eventually, but now is not a good time for myself, and I’m sure a lot of baseball fans
In Tim’s defense they pay processing fees on every payment so monthly ones are a lot worse for them, I think if they did monthly ones it would have to be more like $4 just to have it work out the same.
Can’t believe all the comments about the price… 1 trip to 5 guys for the 3 in my family is $30… 🙂 Come on people! I’m in – and happy to help support the site – you all give a nice consolidated place for information sharing as well as some nice features.
I subscribed to help support the site but times are tough for a lot of people, just like it is for the site.
I really like MLBTR the way it is, with ads, although I don’t see many which is the problem for you!
I don’t use the App or ‘t follow the other sports, except college football, none of which may happen anyway.
I don’t see how they can have any football without bubble wrapping – it is purely a contact, in your face, dog fight, with sweat and saliva flying.
If you aren’t changing the free site, fingers crossed it stays the same, it’s enough for me.
Thanks.
MLBTR is already a daily stop and I’m a subscriber over at Fangraphs for the same reason – supporting sports journalism that produces actual content is worth it. You won’t find day-of news on a DFA for the 40th man on the 40-man on ESPN. If you care about the finer details of this sport (and the others here), $30/yr is more than worth it.
Done! Easy decision for $2.50/mo.
Raking in the cash already! Nice work guys.
On ad revenue – Does your Ad-Choice agreement allow for targeted ad insertion generated by your company (you or Ad-Choice inserts the ads, even in rotation, and they take a cut) or allow you to retain or add another ad space? I always wonder if a direct advertising client that targets your market wouldn’t be more profitable and successful for click to purchase follow thru. For instance, a minor league ball club would like to ad blitz via your site’s demographics for a campaign they are running. Can Ad-Choice or another vehicle target Unique IP’s for that region? Would that agreement yield more revenue or would your entity retain a much higher ad percentage if you generated the ad contract? Does Ad-Choice even have a sales department wherein someone in sports advertising within their company could generate more revenue if they add your sites to their portfolio? These type of ideas open up better ad mechanisms – business schools that specialize in sports may want to target their ads, rep firms may want to add your sites as properties they represent, and many more potential ad relationships.
I’m not suggesting you go full tilt ESPN style ad department, only making suggestions to grow and remain viable. There are also conferences to learn more for a relative pittance. “Media Finance Management” is one I’ve attended and there are lots of sports ad people and finance folks that used to attend (ESPN to national rep firms like Katz Media) and some folks are more than willing to share a moment and brainstorm.
Anyway, wishing your endeavors well. And remember folks – If MLBTR is one of your favorite internet haunts, please turn off your ad blockers here and click an ad or two that interest you every so often, ’cause that is the business side of baseball!
@ Tim D. – For some reason this article only appears on the website right now, it’s not on the APP. I downloaded the most recent version of the APP too and it’s still not showing up there. Just FYI
That’s by design…asking people to subscribe through the app presents its own set of technical hurdles, so we’re not advertising it there.
For all the years we got to view these sites for free, it is well worth the $$ to support you guys! Keep up the great work.
Sold!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even before reading the benefits!!!!!! I could care less about getting more content for paying a premium! I have read every article since 2007, even considered writing for here for absolutely nothing due to my love for this site even when it was just Tim writing everything and I was writing for other baseball outlets. (The mental rivalry of me being from Maywood and Tim being from Dupage County as members of the West Suburban Gold/Silver also adds to my love of this site being the best!)
If MLBTR was a cash station that charged 1 buck for every time I refreshed the site(It has been in my browser as my lead tab for over 13 years), I would have paid more than 1 Million bucks already. So my contribution is waaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue!
Keep up the great work, and if there is anything more I can do to help, the answer is already YES!
Sincerely,
Keith Miller
Got a glitch with the subscriber badge?
It “bleeps” out part of every applicable post.
Possibly a Firefox issue?
I haven’t seen that. Can you drop me a line through our contact form and then maybe I can get a screen shot from you?
mlbtraderumors.com/contact
I see it now in Firefox. We’ll get on it.
Would this be judt through the app or through browser too?
This meaning ad-free? Membership will remove ads in both places once you’re logged in, but we have a few bugs to work out this week regarding the app.
People will pay $5.00 for a cup of coffee. But complain about a $20 something subscription for 1 year.
Ya. I read an article somewhere that suggested the reason people behave like this online is because it’s become so common to get what you want for free that when something is sold online, there’s more entitlement than if they walk into a Target or a Walmart.
Well it’s $30 not $20… but sure. People also complain about the price of coffee…
Long time reader, infrequent comments. Happy to help though, I definitely get more than $30 of fun and info from this site!
Done! I’m on the site multiple times a day. Glad I can help.
Subscribed as well. Practically get paid to read content here and PHR when at work so money well spent. Thanks boys.
Easy decision. Smart move. Keep up the good work.
Totally get the fundraising. $30 is a bit much for me. If you did a go fund me or Kickstarter, I’d gladly pay $10 without the need for any rewards.
Same here.
Not a criticism at all but in case you are like a few of us, it’s $30 for the year, not a month.
Tim, I have never paid for internet content in my life…..until today. MLBTR is worth every penny and then some. The hard work and dedication that you and your staff put in every single day is blatantly obvious. You even keep putting up with my unending stream of mostly bad puns! Hardly a day goes by that I do not check your website or app multiple times. Please keep up the great work and don’t be afraid to let your loyal readers know if you need more.
Fred Glatter, MD
Highland Park, NJ
Just a thought………..
Seems like there is a lot of $10 support offers to be had from several regular users of this site….. Some of us have no problem with $30….. and I think those of us that already purchased on that level won’t be sad or demand money back if you made a one time $10 exception or subscription……
To leave those 10 dollar bills on the floor would seem pointless….. Those of us that know that everyone can’t afford the 30 won’t care even if they get the same level of clearance as the $30 subscribers…… I just think that if you can find the proper verbiage to find a way to collect all of the 10 buck offers I have seen in this thread alone, that could be advantageous in supporting the site. Actually, there might be many more people willing to pay 10 bucks than there is willing to pay $30.
Even if it is simply removing the ads and giving them a badge, I can see how you can make good use of those offers of 10 bucks.
Just a thought…..
The ads are perfectly acceptable to me.
And badges? Badges!!? I don’t need any stinking badges! 🙂
But hey, where can I send my tenner?
Done! Thanks MLBTR for the years of free information, glad to finally not feel like I am robbing you.
Why tf would i donate to a site that limits their users ability to converse and discuss by straight up closing comments on articles
Because of the TF acronym. So do not pay, but please be aware of acronyms and similes. Even Wakanda tries to keep it clean.
i heard a guy even got kicked off once because he thought he was Freddie Freeman’s doctor. You can’t make this stuff up my guy
Why would I go to a site where people can hijack the comment section and make inane political comments?
You think civility is a bad thing? Most people don’t.
Maybe because you are the minority. Did you even look at the article they wrote concerning why they have been closing comments specifically for covid? If you didn’t, allow me to inform you that the vast majority of posters, including myself, was favorable to covid articles being shut down. There are other avenues for what you want to talk about.
People who cannot be civil want their voices heard.
I just want to have an honest, non-hostile, snipe free, non-political back and forth.
If someone disagrees with me about the DH, bring it on. But let’s keep it civil.
Ohhhhhh no you didn’t halo….. you keep the dh outta this lol
Yes. I love a good, friendly debate as well. That was definitely not what was happening during the covid debates. They were every bit as hostile as the political atmosphere is now.
Nope, the content isn’t worth paying for.
Click through and only buy Coca-Cola.
Cokeman1959
“Nope, the content isn’t worth paying for.”
And that is why I’m a proponent for the free market system. I think it is, here is my 30 dollars, you think it isn’t, so you keep your 30 dollars.
Hey Tim,
Paid my $30. Got my cool TR official badge.
Went to my subscription, turned off the “auto renewal” option for next year…badge went away. But says I’m still subscribed until July 2021. Word up?
You have uncovered a bug! We’ll fix that.
Thanks Tim!
Been coming to this site almost daily since the beginning, happy to support it!
Would be more interesting if you could somehow put a troll filter into the site too.
nrd1138 .
I complete agree. Are you a George Lucas fan?
THX1138. John Milner’s license plate THX 138. Which I think was impossible because THX likely didn’t happen until around 1968.
Great idea. I spend more time on this site than most other sites, and it’s my go-to source for baseball. I was just wondering if you guys had a Patreon, as that’s how I like to show support for some of my favorite sites/podcasts, but this works too!
Happy to support this amazing website.
Appreciate this program; happy to pay for the content and support those who write for MLBTR. Out of curiosity, will this change correspond to any reboots of MLBTR features, specifically the Mailbag and/or Baseball Blogs Weigh In, etc.?
I would subscribe if you promise not to ban me.
I’ve been reading for over a decade and gave even submitted tips for minor league callups to the site when they were announced live during minor league games. Happy to help ensure this continues to grow!
Until now, not a commenter, and likely won’t become one. But the content is worth it to me, so I’m in.
Feels kinda weird not seeing ads on here, but nice! Definitely gonna be nice to not have ads on the app soon too!
Gladly paid the $30 to support this site. You guys do a great job, keep it up!
Also looks sick to have a badge next to my name lol
Does that mean my questions will be ignored in the chats unless I have a badge next to my name?
No
1. I think this a great idea.
2. I’m surprised there isn’t a premium tier at $100/year, since a huge chunk of the visitors here are over 50 with ample funds.
3. I don’t see the value for me personally. I love the Chat Transcripts, but I never join live. It’s slow and I never get my questions answered. I realize there’s only a 1% chance, and that’s fine. A Premium Chat might up the possibility to 10-25%??? That’s still low. Plus, I don’t want to hang around waiting. I would like an option to submit questions ahead of time. This feature would be worth the membership to me.
I definitely think chats are a thing for some and not for others. I like them both ways, personally; the live nature is nice, seeing the chat develop, each one gets a personality, sort of. While there’re too many questions for a total back and forth, sometimes one comes into existence anyway.
But, reading a chat after the fact can be nice also – and that would work well with ‘submitted ahead of time’ questions. Maybe a Q&A mailbag type post once a week could be possible, that Tim/etc. answers whenver time permits and questions arrive, and then is posted with whatever is gotten around to?
What’s the big deal about chat questions being answered? I’ve seen a few people mention this.
On one hand, while the writers are knowledgeable, they aren’t experts and haven’t worked in a front office in any aspect, so… it’s cool, but limited insight. Usually the rumors and sources they present are ones that other people also have access to. There are a lot of baseball minds you can contact with questions.
At the same time, if it’s a question somebody absolutely must have Steve Adams or Jeff Todd answer to be able to sleep at night, you CAN message them on Twitter as well.
Agree; I think it’s mostly just people like to see their name in the lights (or in the highlights!) honestly. I ask tons of questions, get one or two answered directly, but honestly most of the time the important questions are answered either way.
Great idea, and nice implementation – always like it when sites add a paid option that gives small bonuses but leave the majority of the site free. I have the means to support the site but don’t want those who don’t to be left hanging.
I just subscribed. Thanks for the opportunity people.
Whatever ads I have dealt with with in the past several years since slamming refresh multiple times (http then the app) since BOS/LAD Manny trade, have been comparatively and seemingly unobtrusive. I will gladly support ya’ll shortly despite this pleasant experience.
First, I am crushing a credit card, but I’ll be there for you. Promise.
Will you promise to stop shadow banning me for being brilliant and provocative?
Easy decision to subscribe. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of MLBTR over the years, and I’m usually using a browser with an ad blocker.
Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no stinking’ badges to sign up for MLBFO!.
Happy to be a subscriber Tim. 🙂
keep up the great work!