Baseball cards used as player photos

HelpDodgers · 05-18-2021, 05:13 PM

So, we were told a while a go that OOTP couldn't use baseball card images in the game, however they can use MLB players.

I have MLB, The Game on xbox. They use baseball cards for their legends. I know because I used to own the black Vida Blue card

Please make it so we can use real player images in PL, please.

pstrickert · 05-18-2021, 05:25 PM

I like the idea.

dkgo · 05-18-2021, 05:39 PM

I think Sony has just slightly deeper pockets than OOTP to buy the appropriate licenses with.

Torgonius · 05-18-2021, 07:08 PM

The kicker here is that it's not the license fees for retired players. The major issue is that there is no union or other group representation for retired MLB players which could negotiate a decent package deal.

If you want to include historical players, your lawyers are going to have to track down their lawyers, then do lawyer things together. And you have to do that for every single player you want to include. If that player is dead, you need to track down their descendants. Who wants to volunteer to track down all of Ice Box Chamberlain's kids, grand kids, great grand kids and great-great grandkids? If there isn't an established estate with whom you can deal, you need to get everyone.

That gets stupid expensive really quick. And it's going to take time. Time is money, so now it's even more stupid expensive.

And there's no financial incentive for retired players to form such a group. There's demand for a few select individuals, but they'll just negotiate their own deals (through their lawyers). What amount of money would OOTP have to pay each year to get a license deal, which would result in any meaningful financial gain for the players?

neugey · 05-18-2021, 07:23 PM

I think a more realistic goal would be to get game-action photos of current MLB players, so you would at least have those. I think the plain looking profile pictures of almost all the live players are the real eyesore, not the non-live card designs.

Hertston · 05-18-2021, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torgonius

The major issue is that there is no union or other group representation for retired MLB players which could negotiate a decent package deal.

The credits for MLB The Show (during startup) refer to the historic players rights being supplied by the Major League Baseball Alumni Association and the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Torgonius · 05-18-2021, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hertston

The credits for MLB The Show (during startup) refer to the historic players rights being supplied by the Major League Baseball Alumni Association and the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

There is... but.....

Quote:

- There is a retired players’ association known as the “Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association” MLBPAA. The MLBPAA is headquartered in Colorado and represents 5800 former and current major league players, umpires, managers, coaches and fans (please don’t think of the 5800 as being all former players) and operates a for-profit group based in St. Petersburg FL called Major League Alumni Marketing (MLAM) and the Legends Memorabilia Collection (LMC) designed to generate compensation for former players.
- What they don’t say is exactly how many players, and which players, they represent. I understand why, and I hope you do as well, so the best way to get your retired player licensing questions answered would be to speak to MLAM directly at 719-475-1847 Matt Hazzard matt@mlbpaa.com or call their office in Florida 727-898-8900. My big picture point would be for you to understand that as good as MLBPAA and MLAM may be, they do not represent all retired MLB players.

Source

AdequateRandomGaming · 05-19-2021, 04:48 PM

It's not just the licensing with the alumni association, MLB the Show also has a partnership with Topps, which I'm sure is not free to go on top of that.
In order to have something similar, OOTP would need to either partner with a similar company, or track down the families of all those players to get permission to use unused pictures card companies did not use to create their own.

It might just be too rich a price tag right now, and not worth the time and investment for OOTP right now.

05-18-2021, 05:13 PM	#1
HelpDodgers Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 307	Baseball cards used as player photos So, we were told a while a go that OOTP couldn't use baseball card images in the game, however they can use MLB players. I have MLB, The Game on xbox. They use baseball cards for their legends. I know because I used to own the black Vida Blue card Please make it so we can use real player images in PL, please. Attached Images __________________

05-18-2021, 07:08 PM	#4
Torgonius All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 871	The kicker here is that it's not the license fees for retired players. The major issue is that there is no union or other group representation for retired MLB players which could negotiate a decent package deal. If you want to include historical players, your lawyers are going to have to track down their lawyers, then do lawyer things together. And you have to do that for every single player you want to include. If that player is dead, you need to track down their descendants. Who wants to volunteer to track down all of Ice Box Chamberlain's kids, grand kids, great grand kids and great-great grandkids? If there isn't an established estate with whom you can deal, you need to get everyone. That gets stupid expensive really quick. And it's going to take time. Time is money, so now it's even more stupid expensive. And there's no financial incentive for retired players to form such a group. There's demand for a few select individuals, but they'll just negotiate their own deals (through their lawyers). What amount of money would OOTP have to pay each year to get a license deal, which would result in any meaningful financial gain for the players? __________________ When you let your 10 year old name the team

05-18-2021, 07:23 PM	#5
neugey All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 807	I think a more realistic goal would be to get game-action photos of current MLB players, so you would at least have those. I think the plain looking profile pictures of almost all the live players are the real eyesore, not the non-live card designs. __________________ Online OOTP League Play: PBA - Cincinnati Reds MLM - Baltimore Orioles

05-18-2021, 05:25 PM	#2
pstrickert Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 17,037	I like the idea.

05-18-2021, 05:39 PM	#3
dkgo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2,152	I think Sony has just slightly deeper pockets than OOTP to buy the appropriate licenses with.

05-19-2021, 04:48 PM	#8
AdequateRandomGaming Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 208	It's not just the licensing with the alumni association, MLB the Show also has a partnership with Topps, which I'm sure is not free to go on top of that. In order to have something similar, OOTP would need to either partner with a similar company, or track down the families of all those players to get permission to use unused pictures card companies did not use to create their own. It might just be too rich a price tag right now, and not worth the time and investment for OOTP right now.