Q&A with Jordan Skopp, FBSN founder
The founder of Foul Ball Safety Now, realtor and philanthropist Jordan Skopp, tells the story of our advocacy campaign that’s been fighting for baseball fans’ safety since 2019.
Q: Why did you decide to start the Foul Ball Safety Now campaign?
A: I’ve been a baseball fan my whole life. I grew up in Mill Basin, Brooklyn. Growing up rooting for the Mets has provided me with some of the greatest joys and disappointments in my life. Baseball is part of my DNA. So when I was confronted with evidence of how my beloved sport, America’s favorite pastime, was not protecting the fans from high-speed foul balls that could smash their heads, I had to do something. People had no idea how often balls rocket into the seats. Children and adults, all at risk every time they attend a game. Three people had died and many had been seriously injured. And yet nobody was leading on this issue. No advocacy organization was taking on foul ball fan safety. So I felt I had no choice but to dedicate my time and resources to advocate to extend netting in ballparks across the country, to protect fans from serious injury and death.
Q: Was there a defining moment that inspired you to start the campaign?
A: In 2006 I went to Game Six of the playoffs, the Mets vs. the St. Louis Cardinals. I sat behind the third base dugout, a few seats over from Jerry Seinfeld. I remember having the feeling, for the first time, because I never had such good seats before, that I could be instantly crushed by a foul ball. There was zero netting above the dugouts at the time.
But the defining moment actually came in 2019, when I saw the news about a little girl in Houston who was hit in the head by a foul ball off the bat of a Chicago Cubs player. It sent chills down my spine. I had never seen anything more horrific in my life. Then I found out about another little girl, a 2-year-old in New York City who in 2017 had suffered a serious head injury from a Yankee batter’s foul ball. I remember thinking, how could this possibly be allowed to continue? I figured out that it was not a matter of IF but WHEN someone would be crushed by another foul ball. I was outraged by the lack of thorough media coverage and concern for fan safety. The first thing I did was to offer to pay for extended netting for both the Mets and Yankees, my hometown ball clubs. But they never replied, which made me curious. With no background in journalism, I began researching the history of foul ball injuries and discovered the Baseball Rule, and then started publishing articles in various places, but felt the need to do more. I kept diving deeper into the research and compiling the information needed to make my case. I sent letters to politicians and sponsors of ballparks. That’s how Foul Ball Safety Now got started.
Q: What do you want to achieve with this campaign?
A: I want to create a wide conversation about this overlooked issue. Start a new dialogue where baseball fans, parents, industry professionals and authorities can come together to take action. I have very concrete objectives. The most urgent one is banning children under 18 from attending baseball games in professional league ballparks, especially in the minor and indy leagues where there’s less netting and fans are much more exposed. It’s just too dangerous. And ultimately I want to bring down the Baseball Rule, which states that when fans go to a ballpark they’re taking an “assumption of risk.” They may not be aware, but they are. The Baseball Rule only requires stadium owners to provide a limited amount of netting to protect individuals from foul balls and shattered bats. This legislation was enacted over 100 years ago to protect Major League Baseball and the team owners from having to pay out for personal injuries to fans. Since 2008, at least 45 children have been seriously injured by foul balls, mostly head injuries. But they’re not entitled to receive compensation, not even for medical bills. Sometimes MLB settles out of court after high profile incidents involving children or when somebody gets killed. But at the end of the day most injured fans don’t file any claims, discouraged by the Baseball Rule. We need to come together to modernize this legislation and protect the fans.
Q: What have been some of the major milestones of the campaign?
A: We have done an extensive media campaign to try and put this issue on the agenda. Our campaign was featured in the LA Times, People, Forbes, The Boston Globe and many others. We have published dozens of press releases and held multiple press conferences. From 2021 to 2024, I personally called 120 Minor League box offices and asked them about their netting. In 2021-22, we ran an intense outreach campaign. I flew plane banners over the Field of Dreams games in Iowa, an All-Star Game in Los Angeles, and Dozer Park in Illinois with messages to alert fans and put pressure on the authorities. I also hired a small team of people to carry signs and hand out flyers at the All-Star Game in Colorado.
Q: What are the latest initiatives you’ve been working on?
A: We have a number of campaigns going on at the moment. There’s the Healing Project, which is an opportunity for retired and active professional baseball players to help set the record straight about the foul ball fan injury crisis. I worshiped baseball players growing up. There was nothing like having baseball cards, looking at their statistics on the back of cards. Those players were heroes to me and my friends. But unfortunately the players are involved in this problem and should come forward. Be part of the solution to make sure this doesn’t happen again. It has to start with them acknowledging the situation and their role in it. Several players have told me in interviews that their families don’t sit in unprotected seats. But still they don’t speak up for the fans. Injured fans who have been traumatized for a lifetime by bruising foul balls are still waiting for things to change. I believe that long overdue sincere gestures extended to fans by players and MLB would begin the healing process. That’s what we’re trying to achieve with this campaign. Then as part of our Outreach campaigns we have the Letter to District Attorneys initiative, through which we have contacted dozens of DAs in cities where ballparks still have no adequate netting, alerting them of the issue and asking them to step in. Another crucial initiative we have is the Exhibit A campaign, where we make the eye-opening ESPN video from 2019 available for target audiences in an effort to warn them of the dangers of going to a baseball game and we ask them to join us in our advocacy efforts to make ballparks safe for all. Finally, I’d like to mention the conferences I’ve been organizing with lawyers, doctors, and others to discuss the foul ball injury crisis and work together to find ways to advance our campaign.
Q: What has it been like for you to lead this campaign?
A: It hasn’t always been easy. For the last five years, I’ve been spending most of my time on this campaign, as well as substantial resources. And although we have made some meaningful progress, our main objectives are still elusive. I’ve been pleading with people to get involved. As of November 2024, I have talked at length with more than 100 lawyers, judges, and law students, as well as pediatrician MDs and nurses. It can feel lonely to be the only one really pushing this campaign forward. It can be frustrating to see how this issue is out there in plain sight yet I seem to be the only one who dares fight this fight and confront the big corporate interests behind baseball. But I know I have to keep on going. I have already organized a few conferences, and I have many more in the pipeline. I continue to have lively conversations with all who meet up with me on this important issue. My goal is to connect with open-minded legal eagle influencers and healthcare ambassadors for the cause by spreading the word about abolishing the Baseball Rule. I have also reached out to people from the arts world, and continue to get a very receptive response. I’m passionate about this and I want others to feel the same way. I’m ultimately trying to find and encourage baseball and consumer safety advocates. I’m trying to bring these people together from different fields and from all walks of life to become influencers on this issue, to join the cause. I want to harness this epiphany of outrage.
Q: What has inspired you to keep going?
A: I’ve interviewed many victims of foul ball injuries and their family members. I’ve been in touch with some of them for years. And new people keep coming forward. They keep finding me through the network I’ve worked so hard to establish across the country, including nurses and doctors. For example, I recently spoke to a woman who was hurt by a foul ball decades ago but still carries the trauma with her. I keep going for people like her. I’ve also interviewed several victims who were young children when they were hit, and continue to suffer the lasting impacts, struggling in school and living with fear of the ballpark. The victims and their families deserve justice, and the rest of the baseball families in America deserve peace of mind when they go to a ballgame. For generations little children have been bringing their gloves to catch foul balls. It’s time to finally destroy the myth of coming to the game and associating foul balls with fun. The sad and unfortunate truth is that hard hit foul balls should be associated with danger and serious injury. If my actions directly or indirectly can save one young person from a lifetime of medical bills, headaches, vision problems and the inability to concentrate I would consider my activism around this issue a success. But I need help.
Q: What are you planning to do next?
A: While working on the ongoing campaigns, I’m preparing new ones. I’m organizing conferences. And I’m working on a book that will expose untold truths that will shock America about the past and present danger to fans, and hopefully be another effective starting point to end the foul ball injury crisis.