In past polling about our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription service, it became clear a lot of MLBTR readers don’t know what it is or what the benefits are. In the reliable format of asking myself questions and then answering them, here we go!
What is Trade Rumors Front Office?
Trade Rumors Front Office is our paid subscription service, which we launched in July 2020. Click here to subscribe.
What are the specific benefits as compared to the free site?
- The removal of ads when you’re browsing this website and using our Trade Rumors app
- Exclusive weekly articles from Steve Adams and Anthony Franco. These articles feature analysis from Steve and Anthony. Recent examples include “It’s Time For The Reds To Explore Long-Term Deals With Their Young Core” and “The small-market team that rebuilt without going into an actual rebuild.” Steve and Anthony also analyze recent major transactions, such as the Rafael Devers extension.
- Exclusive live chats with Anthony every Friday
- During fantasy baseball season (starting this month), weekly articles from fantasy expert Brad Johnson. Brad also holds fantasy baseball chats for subscribers every other week during this time.
- Early access to our chats with MLB players. Subscribers are first to know about these chats and have the chance to submit questions early.
How are the chats different if you’re a subscriber?
In a typical chat open to everyone on MLB Trade Rumors, the host is able to answer about 5% of the questions that come in, due to the high volume. In Anthony’s subscriber chats, since there are fewer participants, he’s able to answer about 70-90% of the questions asked. If that number consistently drops below 70%, we plan to add a second weekly subscriber chat.
How much does it cost?
$29.89 per year or $2.99 per month.
How do I access it?
To remove the ads, subscribers just need to be logged in when they’re on the site or app. All the other benefits are sent via email.
What if I sign up, try it for a while, and decide it’s not worth my money?
I’ll refund 100% of your money!
What if I get everything I need from the free site?
That’s perfectly fine. We’re glad to have you here.
What if I don’t like paying for baseball news?
We’re not offering additional news with this service. We are offering analysis from our writers beyond what free MLBTR has, plus live chats with a much higher likelihood of getting your questions answered.
What if this subscription doesn’t fit into my budget?
We respect that and we’re happy we’ve been able to offer a free, ad-supported website for 17 years and counting.
Are you going to make the free website worse or paywall it in some way?
No, and we’ve actually got all sorts of plans to make the free website even better. It can be a tough needle to thread, but Trade Rumors Front Office is for those who have the means, would like to support us directly, and want to go even deeper with our writers in terms of analysis and interaction.
Don’t you make money off the ads on the free site?
Yes, ads represent the vast majority of our revenue. In that sense, the website isn’t completely free, as you’re letting us show you ads (assuming you’re not using an ad blocker).
We don’t have an ad sales team going out and negotiating deals with advertisers. Instead, we plug in code from the major online ad middlemen (like Google), and they take a cut. So, we don’t control the specific ads that appear on the site. We also don’t control the rates at which those ads pay. 2022 was our worst year for ad rates in a decade, with the exception of 2020. There are a few levers I can try to pull, but I also think it’s good for the company long-term to grow the subscription service.
Is there a way I can support MLBTR without getting a paid subscription?
Yes! Tell your MLB fan friends to visit mlbtraderumors.com or download the free Trade Rumors app, and share our stuff on social media like Twitter and Facebook.
If you do want a Trade Rumors Front Office subscription, click here!
I love the subscription but I miss the weekly mailbag. Any chance of that ever coming back?
That was fun. I found that I didn’t have enough time to dedicate 4-5 hours each week to it. I think it could make sense for me to do a shorter version of the mailbag, or perhaps to have Steve, Anthony, or Darragh tackle it.
…or rotate among the staff.
Thanks for all you do Tim!
Darragh seems like a sweetheart, let him try the abbreviated mailbag 🙂
Sounds like a job for an intern. 😉
Tim D: Any added consideration given to a comment section/chat area specific for members? It would be cool to jump in with just fellow Yankees fans or invite those members with whom we enjoy discussing baseball news.
Also, not sure if you can answer this question but many of us really enjoyed conversing with Ducky. Do you reach out to members who drop off the boards? Is he still a member?
Thanks for all you and your team do, Tim.
Clipper there was a member specific chat but it never really caught on.
I wonder about Ducky as well. He went from posting many times a day to nothing.
Ducky was a regular at LoHud, then RAB, and then here. He seemingly went dark without warning. I fear something bad happened.
It would be cool if we could specifically reach out to members too. Similar to other social media forums where we could email another member without seeing his email address. Or sending some type of DM. Would keep the info anonymous but provide an opportunity to exchange some personal info if members choose to (but keep it limited to the one specific person).
I’m gonna need to get a subscription now, definitely gonna pull the trigger soon.
Yes. I’ve got kind of a chat room thing we’re working on for members. I tried doing it in Slack, as you may recall, but building a community on their platform seemed expensive and tricky.
Right now it’s just a basic one-room chat room for members. I think it’s pretty close to being ready, I’ll look into that today.
Unfortunately I don’t know anything about the whereabouts of Ducky.
Thanks Tim!
I’ve got the subscription and I really enjoy it. I’ve been reading MLBTR every day since 2010 or so and it makes sense to pay for what I’ve been enjoying so long and invest in its long-term future. Of course, I enjoy the articles too!
This was my reasoning as well – I’ve enjoyed the site for over a decade and have the means (although it’s rather affordable to begin with), so it only made sense to support the site that I read so regularly.
Any dedicated baseball fan can and should support MLBTRs subscription —a mere $29.89 annually. There is no other site as informative. It’s my #1 source for baseball news and insights. (PS-Tim didn’t ask me to write this, but I love this site!)
1000% agree. best site on the internet
Hardball Talk was my go-to site for baseball news until I discovered MLBTR. Though Hardball Talk is an NBC entity and, as such, likely has substantial money behind it, MLBTR blows it out of the water where reader comment is concerned. And that’s the most entertaining part of the experience. Keep up the good work, Tim!
This is my favorite monthly subscription.
Well worth the money to get my, shall I say, off best questions in early and answered! The extra analysis emails are also very informative and entertaining!
Very happy with my subscription. Will definitely renew. There is no better place to get baseball news than MLBTR. The Hockey site is also excellent. Following the Cards and Blues, I have found you often scoop the local St. Louis paper. Thanks to you and your staff for all you do.
I don’t know. I’ve grown rather fond of the ad’s for Ukrainian mail-order brides and “discreet” online hookups…
….ummmm, aren’t those ads targeted?
No offense but this has been available for a while now and MLBTR is still on the same app they had over a decade ago. Until they can actually reinvest the $ back into our end of the site I’ll take a hard pass on this offer.
100% time for an app upgrade. Some of that ad revenue is hopefully being set aside for a future improvement.
App improvement is on the agenda for this year.
There have been a couple of hurdles there: the iPhone app’s revenue fell off a cliff last year, and we don’t really have an Android developer.
But we do have an iPhone app developer, and it is a good investment, so I’m hopeful we can get some stuff done in 2023.
Tim, was 2022 being the worst year for ad revenue and the iPhone revenue collapse all related to the changes Apple made?
“APP IMPROVEMENT IS ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS YEAR”
You said that last year and the year before.
Did you read the above info about what comes with a subscription? When I subscribed, the added value is absolutely there.
I very much read the post, but I’ll stand by my points that I’ve made. We’ve been promised an updated app over and over if this “new” source of income hasn’t already changed the biggest issue they have (an outdated app and horribly set up comment section) I don’t know why I’d be incentivized to add more to the pockets of MLBTR.
@braves You don’t have to use the app. I have never used the app and my user experience is exceptional. Like I feel bad I get all of this for free, and feel compelled to subscribe. Your comments are really strange to me.
What’s the point of the mobile app if I have to use a browser on my phone? Which btw I don’t because every time I do the ads redirect me to App Store to buy something. I love the site I never said otherwise, I’m just hesitant to give them any of my money if it never reflects on the product issues. You feeling compelled to buy is strange to me, I feel I support them plenty reading every article.
bif,
The compulsion is fake. See the lack of subscriber badge for proof.
My own lack reflects my current satisfaction with the free product.
I do support MLBTR with referrals, including the suggestion to start there and link to Baseball Reference from there. Surprisingly (to me), many long-time fans of the game are new to the site and several are now fanatical. two even bought the paid version from the get go. Any more, I’ll ask for commission!
🙂
Out of curiosity, what advantage does using the app have for you over just keeping a tab on your phone’s browser? That’s how I’ve read MLBTR for over 10 years (when I’m not on my laptop) and have never had a complaint.
I don’t think I’ve ever used any of the extra stuff, I just wanted to support an a site I visit multiple times a day.
As an old guy who grew up reading the sporting news, baseball digest, and sports illustrated, among others, I can appreciate good articles and you deliver, keep up the great work all of you do.
I loved Sporting News and Baseball Digest. Wasn’t there a Baseball Weekly also? It was a newspaper type… I would buy the baseball Encyclopedia every 10 years. It had all the stats of every player. I showed Baseball Reference to my dad and his eye lit up. “I can look up any players stats?” He was looking up old friends he knew who played… I got to meet Johnny Logan and Jack Dittmer from the Braves. My dad knew them. Harry Chitti and Willie Horton… He loved Baseball.
The money I paid for my yearly subscription is well worth the cost. Rumors is my go-to place for baseball news. Sadly, it beats by a mile the MLB team official sites.
So if 70 to 90 percent of questions get answered and I can go weeks without getting a question answered, should I take it personally? That being said I have enjoyed the site for years and and happy to support the work these guys do.
We got you! Sent you an email.
I’m basically a day one reader and love the site. It was a no-brainer to support you guys.
I really enjoyed the last part. It was really interesting to hear a little bit about how the business model actually works. I think a lot of times we can take things like this for granted and just assume “oh they’re making money.” It was really fascinating to hear about the ups and downs that a site like this can face. Thank you for all the hard work you all put in for keeping us up to date with baseball news!
I scan multiple online sources for MLB news (usually Yankees-related news) and find this site has better articles, addresses newsworthy baseball information immediately, and is a one-stop-shop for all relevant baseball moves.
The weekly mailbag was great and the payout-specific discussions are a big benefit too.
If I get banned after I subscribe, do I get a refund? Asking for a friend.
Anyone can get a refund for any reason, so sure.
I don’t think people get banned. Only posts are banned, as far as I am aware. This one guy has been stealing my username for months by adding an S and still has an account. On that note, what do I have to pay to get my impersonator banned?
I might break the piggy bank this year. But I have to tell you, I was pretty unhappy with the coverage of contract negotiations last year. I thought the contract was about perfectly in the middle, but that MLB-R was pro-player about 95% of the time. Virtually every article had some sort of slant to it, in what was reported, and what wasn’t.
There should be no discernible bias by the media, but other than that, great site.
Really cool to see this site grow, Tim.
I appreciate what you all do. I’m late so they probably won’t see my message, but I prefer this over ESPN, easily. Nowadays, literally everything there is only for payers. So it’s basically useless except for checking the score.
As soon as I joined all posts started disappearing and no customer service so I had to cancel and start a whole new identity. I’m sure he’ll cancel this one now and I’ll have to start again. Maybe
Did you comment on that guy on that team who was investigated for that thing?
It was way before him. And it.
And all the comments were closed anyway.
They were closed 4 hours in, actually. What you mentioned did happen in real time on that thread.
They gave me my money back with no problem. They just never replied to my pleas for help so lesson learned for me.