Creating a website

Individual imagination turns into conformity 24 years ago today as all 30 major league teams agree to cede their internet rights to the commissioner’s office.

The decision allows MLB to use the same cut-and-paste website template for all 30 teams, making all of those websites look the same and then rolling them into the one-size-fits-all site that is www.mlb.com.

The universal look allows MLB to better market its product to national advertisers, creating even more – cha-ching! – revenue that commissioner Bud Selig divvies up between the 30 teams.

Other professional leagues soon follow MLB’s lead and create their own universal websites. And the money to this day continues to pour in for the leagues and their teams.