Wouldn't IPO's of media fluff be some of the first things to go in an economic downturn?

Not necessarily. For instance, if many people choose to save money by going to the ballpark less frequently, they might spend some of that savings on MLBAM products. And if they expand the reach of MLBAM products during a recession, that reach would probably continue after the economy recovers.

That I guess is a possibility but I would think the more likely customer for MLBAM are people who have already chosen not to go to games and that listening to games on the internet is an extra cost that they cannot afford and can live without.

I don't know for sure, of course. But in my experience, when I see someone cutting corners in one way (by not going to as many games, for instance) they feel justified in splurging in some other, minor way. Properly positioned, MLBAM could capture a lot of that frugal splurging. And MLBAM has been so well marketed, I doubt that they would let such an opportunity pass them by.

Certain aspects of show-business have traditionally been recession-proof since time immemorial.

MLBAM is much, much more than just baseball. It is the leading streaming video technology on the internet. CBS used MLBAM to run it's NCAA tournament on-line the past year. It pulled in millions and millions of viewers and millions of dollars in revenue.

MLBAM is also being used in the entertainment industry as in promoting music artists, leveraging interactive website design and distribution of content.

This is a legit business that MLB has created that has clout far beyond baseball.

MLB will not be impacted negatively by a recession. Their core audience is fairly prosperous, not the sort of folk who will be be hit hard by a recession.

Offseason ticket sales are boffo and more importantly many, more than 1/2?, teams have hiked ticket prices. I and others have speculated that secondary ticketing is contributing to higher prices and stronger sales.

As for the speculation surrounding a sale of BAM, it is driven by 2 factors. First , it is worth a big pile of dough. Second is the issue of digital rights, how much more money could MLB get from their media partners if they packaged TV & digital rights together?

I really liked Maury Brown's argument that teams have made available a multitude of package options for fans and that should help with ticket sales. I wonder how these packages have helped shift the buying habits of customers...

Do they buy it earlier in the year to reserve their place for some important series, assuring the team of their presence (or at least the ticket money) in advance?

When I used to buy tickets I always tried to buy them as early as possible. I never could figure out why baseball couldn't sell their tickets during December. If they had I would have bought more as presents.