Commentary: MLB Wading in Dangerous Waters As It Asks Fans for Their Political Beliefs

Looks like Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred enjoyed his brush with politics this month so much that he’s decided to go all in.

Three weeks ago, Manfred elected to pull this summer’s MLB All-Star Game out of Georgia to protest the state’s new voting reform law. Ironically, he moved the game to Colorado, a state with a 9 percent black population and even stricter voting laws.

Anyway, the league is now distributing surveys to fans, and one of the questions asks them to identify their political affiliation, National Review reported Monday.

MLB tried to justify the question in a statement to the publication, saying, “The research has shown that a person’s self-identified political affiliation often impacts their views about the pandemic, and therefore respondents’ views regarding returning to the ballpark. Since we are in the midst of the pandemic, this is valuable information for our clubs to understand the views of their fans about attending games.”

The league emphasized that this is the third year it has conducted surveys. However, the question about political affiliation appeared for the first time during the 2020 postseason.

MLB said this is only one question in an “extensive” questionnaire about its entire experience, from the purchase of their tickets to attendance at the game, and noted that many organizations ask survey respondents for their political affiliation. Additionally, it said, “Taking the survey and answering that question are completely voluntary.”

Respondents can check the box for “Democrat,” “Republican,” “A Third Party,” “Independent” or “I prefer not to say,” or they can simply leave it blank.

“MLB says the information will be used to determine broad trends, and insists that the results of the surveys – which are sent via email – aren’t tied to any individual accounts,” according to The National Review.