In 1892 the National League began play with twelve teams. It won the war with the now defunct and bought out American Association. Four of the old AA teams were now National League teams, and the owners took pride in their creation. They likened their league to the great economic trusts.
The new League, however, faced problems innumerable. Still lingering were disgruntled players, and more importantly, for the owners, less fans. Ticket sales and profits dropped below pre-PL levels, and this situation left the owners stymied. How could it be that the only professional baseball league in the U.S. had wrose attendance in a homogeneous market? Throughout the decade the owners tried to find the reason. Many blamed it on the heavy economic recession; others blamed it on the Spanish-American War in 1898. Most likely the combination of the recession and the failure of the popular Players' League led to less interest.