A statewide research gateway examining officiating workload, assignment-equivalents, dataset-derived umpire-fee modeling, compensation evidence, workforce development, safety, training, accountability and sustainable youth-sports operations.
September 20, 2026 baseline: the statewide workload contains 786,896 official assignment-equivalents across 430,060 minimum games and 5,332 unique events. Assignment-equivalents are not unique human officials.
Umpire fees: $31,468,440 is the current dataset-derived total from TotalEventUmpireFees. It inherits the Hidden Valley methodology and should not be represented as independently verified payroll, wages, tax reporting, or compensation received by named individuals.
Ratios: 1.830 assignments per minimum game and $39.99 implied fees per assignment are analytical ratios derived from the dataset. They are not staffing mandates or proof of a specific individual's rate of pay.
Evidence layers: this hub keeps the statewide dataset baseline separate from labor-market job postings, historical-operations sensitivity analysis, facility-level scenarios and the proposed professional workforce model.
The table preserves the 2001–2026 workload baseline by season. Unique events are deduplicated from division-suffixed TournamentID values; assignment and fee fields remain source-derived/model-based measures.
| Season | Events | Teams | Min. Games | Assignments | Umpire Fees | Assignments/Game | Fees/Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 69 | 2,311 | 5,353 | 9,819 | $392,760 | 1.834 | $40.00 |
| 2002 | 113 | 3,336 | 7,281 | 12,961 | $518,440 | 1.780 | $40.00 |
| 2003 | 94 | 3,241 | 7,271 | 12,821 | $512,840 | 1.763 | $40.00 |
| 2004 | 121 | 3,193 | 7,171 | 12,504 | $500,160 | 1.744 | $40.00 |
| 2005 | 229 | 4,178 | 9,259 | 16,030 | $641,200 | 1.731 | $40.00 |
| 2006 | 144 | 4,104 | 9,298 | 16,194 | $647,760 | 1.742 | $40.00 |
| 2007 | 136 | 3,854 | 8,413 | 14,977 | $599,080 | 1.780 | $40.00 |
| 2008 | 172 | 4,906 | 11,087 | 19,656 | $786,240 | 1.773 | $40.00 |
| 2009 | 168 | 5,263 | 12,228 | 21,411 | $856,440 | 1.751 | $40.00 |
| 2010 | 172 | 5,063 | 11,689 | 20,551 | $822,040 | 1.758 | $40.00 |
| 2011 | 249 | 6,659 | 15,271 | 27,385 | $1,095,400 | 1.793 | $40.00 |
| 2012 | 313 | 7,876 | 17,666 | 31,819 | $1,272,760 | 1.801 | $40.00 |
| 2013 | 294 | 8,392 | 19,046 | 35,060 | $1,402,400 | 1.841 | $40.00 |
| 2014 | 306 | 8,665 | 20,936 | 38,131 | $1,525,240 | 1.821 | $40.00 |
| 2015 | 256 | 7,709 | 19,525 | 35,502 | $1,420,080 | 1.818 | $40.00 |
| 2016 | 298 | 8,217 | 20,154 | 36,482 | $1,459,280 | 1.810 | $40.00 |
| 2017 | 269 | 7,674 | 20,458 | 37,160 | $1,486,400 | 1.816 | $40.00 |
| 2018 | 256 | 8,488 | 23,197 | 42,552 | $1,702,080 | 1.834 | $40.00 |
| 2019 | 241 | 7,654 | 21,690 | 40,213 | $1,601,120 | 1.854 | $39.82 |
| 2020 | 218 | 7,323 | 21,553 | 39,490 | $1,579,600 | 1.832 | $40.00 |
| 2021 | 251 | 9,311 | 27,891 | 51,633 | $2,065,320 | 1.851 | $40.00 |
| 2022 | 199 | 7,400 | 21,519 | 40,439 | $1,617,560 | 1.879 | $40.00 |
| 2023 | 185 | 8,201 | 23,572 | 44,104 | $1,764,160 | 1.871 | $40.00 |
| 2024 | 212 | 8,802 | 24,772 | 46,366 | $1,854,640 | 1.872 | $40.00 |
| 2025 | 168 | 7,504 | 21,640 | 41,398 | $1,655,920 | 1.913 | $40.00 |
| 2026 | 199 | 7,640 | 22,120 | 42,238 | $1,689,520 | 1.909 | $40.00 |
The Hidden Valley dataset provides a consistent statewide analytical baseline for workload and umpire-fee exposure. It is useful for longitudinal comparison, sensitivity testing and system-scale modeling, but it is not a payroll ledger.
Current baseline: $31,468,440 across 786,896 assignment-equivalents, producing an implied $39.99 per assignment-equivalent.
Job postings, historical operator evidence, public records and facility-specific scenarios should be presented as separate evidence streams. They can test assumptions and illustrate alternative workforce structures without silently rewriting the statewide source dataset.
These existing Baseball Heaven studies provide complementary evidence layers. Older quantitative baselines should be read as earlier stages of the research where they differ from the September 20, 2026 statewide baseline above.
Conceptual / financial / operational workforce framework
12-posting purposive labor-market comparison
Historical-operations sensitivity analysis
Scenario-based facility operating model
Earlier statewide financial/operations landing page
Methodology / evidence hierarchy / limitations
The proposed model explores a professional core, seasonal or part-time employees, and limited independent contractors where the actual working relationship supports that classification. It emphasizes recruitment, training, testing, background screening, safety, evaluation, scheduling safeguards and career pathways.
The model connects workforce planning with aggregate payroll/payment controls, facility utilization reporting, compliance dashboards and privacy-protective public summaries. It is a proposed operating framework—not a finding that every historical tournament used the same employment structure.
Facility scenarios such as Buck Thomas Park can test staffing requirements, compensation sensitivity, scheduling and budget design at a local level. These models should remain clearly labeled as scenarios unless supported by payroll, scheduling, contracts or other primary records.
Event workload, assignment-equivalents, minimum-game baselines, modeled fee exposure, longitudinal trends, organizational/facility associations, labor-market comparisons and workforce-policy scenarios.
Unique worker headcount, individual wages actually received, employment classification, hours worked, certifications, tax treatment, background-screening status, payroll compliance or the identity of officials assigned to a particular game.
