Baker Accepts Challenge Of Rescuing The Naia Former Baseball Exec Sees ‘Small-College’ Association Providing Family-Oriented Opportunities

Steve Baker’s first day as the new head of the NAIA began to resemble his old job, getting Europe interested in major league baseball.

He leaned forward in his chair, gazed into the distance and started talking Monday about making the hard sell.

“The behemoth in Europe was soccer. The NAIA has the same situation,” he said. “Our behemoth is really the NCAA.”

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is at a crossroads, said Baker, who left his job with Major League Baseball International in New York to take over as NAIA president and chief executive officer.

The association for four-year colleges and universities has been losing membership, 109 schools the past 12 years. Of the remaining 362 NAIA members, another 137 are seeking entrance into the NCAA.

“This organization needs to take a hard look at how it runs a sports business,” Baker said.

He plans to get the input of member schools before launching a turnaround plan. But Baker knows what he is up against with the NCAA.

Schools see the NCAA as being more prestigious and offering more opportunities for exposure, he said. The NAIA also does not fully reimburse for travel expenses to tournaments.

For college presidents, it is a matter of meeting the bottom line, he said.

“While he is rooting for his team to go to the championship, he’s thinking ‘lose, lose, lose,”’ Baker said. “We need to find a way to raise revenue to cover those expenses.”

The NAIA grew from a small-college basketball tournament in 1937 into an association offering 24 championships in 13 men’s and women’s sports. W.B. “Red” Reese, longtime coach at what became Eastern Washington University, was among its founders.

Ninety percent of the NAIA’s member schools have a religious affiliation and many are located in small towns.

Baker - whose background is in business - would like to make national sponsors out of companies looking to reach those markets, in an attempt to win NAIA teams more exposure.

“We need to find companies that are aligned with our values and our market,” he said. “It’s a very family-oriented organization.”

When a friend associated with the NAIA approached him about applying, Baker’s first thought was, “I don’t know a lot about this organization.”

He said the thought is shared by the NAIA’s own members.

“They’re looking for change, they’re looking for leadership. If something doesn’t change, they will leave,” he said.

Baker replaced James Chasteen, who resigned in July.

Raised in San Diego, Baker pitched for Detroit, Oakland and St. Louis in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

As vice president for Major League Baseballs’s market development and European operations, the 40-year-old most recently had the job of making baseball’s presence known in Europe.