The Economics of Everyday Things
The Economics of Everyday Things

52. Little League

June 28, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Little League's Quiet Transformation

In the early 1990s, RJ McKenzie's childhood revolved around Little League in Pomona, New York. "Little League was like the thing," he recalls. "That's what we all looked forward to. It was just the focal point of the community." His parents dropped him off at practice with a volunteer coach and picked him up a few hours later. The whole season cost a few hundred dollars. Today, McKenzie's thirteen-year-old son Nick plays baseball seven days a week, sometimes seven hours a day, on two travel teams plus Little League and middle school. The family spends somewhere between $8,000 and $10,000 per season on registration, travel, hotels, meals, and equipment—and that's before buying the $400 bats Nick cycles through two or three times a year.

The Invention of Affordable Baseball

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:01) **Two Generations of Youth Baseball** - RJ McKenzie recalls his own laid-back, affordable Little League childhood in the 1990s, contrasting it with his 13-year-old son Nick's intense, seven-days-a-week schedule of travel baseball.
  • 2 (03:20) **The Origins of Little League** - Journalist and former scout John Miller explains how youth baseball formalized after WWI, with Little League founded in 1939 in Williamsport, PA, as an affordable, volunteer-driven option.
  • 3 (06:11) **The Little League World Series Effect** - The success and cultural prominence of the LLWS created intense competition, leading ambitious coaches to seek more baseball after early tournament exits.
  • 4 (08:00) **The McKenzie Family's Reality** - RJ describes the logistical and financial burden of Nick playing on two travel teams, Little League, and a middle school team.
  • 5 (10:50) **The Business of Travel Baseball** - John Miller reveals the high profit margins of for-profit travel clubs.
  • 6 (12:20) **The Drain on Little League** - The exodus of top talent to travel teams is causing Little League quality to decline.
  • 7 (14:39) **Recruiting and Branding** - The competition for players in travel baseball is intense, with 11-year-olds being recruited like free agents.

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Show Notes

Youth baseball — long a widely accessible American pastime — has become overrun by $10,000-per-year, for-profit travel leagues. Zachary Crockett peers inside the dugout. This episode was originally published on June 16th, 2024.


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