Why is DeWitt so cash-strapped?

[Cranny]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

[OldRed]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

[Cranny]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

[OldRed]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

[desertrat23]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

If the DeWitts aren't seeing positive cash flow, that’s a problem of their own making. Expecting the customers to accept a lesser product while they solve their cash flow problems is going to make said problem worse. Maybe it’s time they should quit.

[Cranny]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

Unless you understand what’s happened with cable contracts, the dumbing down of the game, and possible cash calls, you may be a fan, but you’re a naive fan.

[desertrat23]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

Unless you understand what’s happened with cable contracts, the dumbing down of the game, and possible cash calls, you may be a fan, but you’re a naive fan.

You have no idea if cash calls are a thing for this ownership group. Pure speculation.

[OldRed]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

Unless you understand what’s happened with cable contracts, the dumbing down of the game, and possible cash calls, you may be a fan, but you’re a naive fan.

You are a company man only looking at profit.


Not a real fan.

[Cranny]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

Unless you understand what’s happened with cable contracts, the dumbing down of the game, and possible cash calls, you may be a fan, but you’re a naive fan.

You are a company man only looking at profit.


Not a real fan.

If most of the good players are going to have to be home grown, a good fan will track top prospects as they come through the system. Do you do that, Red?

[CorneliusWolfe]

When allocating needed money to improve the Cardinals. Isn't he a billionaire? The Dodgers spent $300 million this season on salaries. They've won the last two World Series. The Cardinals haven't even been to the playoffs for the last three seasons. DeWitt needs to put 2 and 2 together.

DeWitt could spend 200M a year on payroll and not miss a penny of it.

The money he received from revenue sharing alone was around $200 million last year from teams like the big bad Dodgers. You are correct, he wouldn’t miss a dime.

Instead of reinvesting these funds into the team as intended to create competitive balance they pocket it and blame the fans for not supporting the team.

That money should be returned to the pool if they aren’t going to use it for the betterment of the sport. Everyone calling for a salary cap should instead call for mandates to implement the mechanisms already in place to maintain competitive balance. No one is imposing a revenue cap on greedy owners so why should the employees, the players fans actually pay to see, be limited by a salary cap?

That last sentence perfectly and completely makes crystal clear the corrupt, rapacious, cynical capitalism that is at the root of the problems of baseball-- and of so much else.

Greed all the way around. Neither side will lose out though, that will be passed on to us. In baseball and the “so much else” you mentioned too.

I don’t suppose both the players and the owners could find it in their hearts to take a little less on both ends to make the games and overall experience a little more affordable for the fans that keep them both rich? L-O-L

[CorneliusWolfe]

He isn't cash strapped..simply not willing to spend it on payroll at this time.

Daze - Do the math. Look at revenues, operating income, value of the franchise, debt as a % of value, probable interest rate, etc. Then look at interest dollars alone that are probably paid, not including any principal reduction. The interest payments are close to twice the operating income.

Busch III was completed and I assume financing in place for the 2006 season. The Foxsports local TV contract that everyone is crying over all the time was signed in 2018. So square that one up Cranny……
And let us know how much tickets and concessions have gone up since 2006???

Their media carrier declared bankruptcy, short changing many of it's "customers". But the main principle you need to look at are the comparative cable contracts between the huge market teams, the mid market teams, and the small market teams.

2006 local TV revenue
29mil

2025 local TV revenue
58mil
Which is down from the 75mil expected from old contract.

So in summation, the Local TV Rev has almost doubled since 2006(new stadium/financing) but is 17mil less than…
So 17mil is reason for all the crying……a Miles Mikolas

17mil is the reason BDW can’t make his stadium debt payment, reduced payroll by 75mil, decimated his top of league attendance, won’t sign star players, and has Cranny on herE crying poor every other post
Who believes this nonsense??? 17 MIL CAN’T BE THE REASON TO NOT HAVE A 180-190MIL PAYROLL. STOP THE NONSENSE.

Won't sign star players? What about Ozuna, Goldy, Arenado, Gray, Contreras, etc.

You really need to do the math to understand. Companies in a portfolio need to cash flow. That's how billionaires get to be billionaires.

Now let's look at the reality of the situation. When you buy a stock, you look at a return on investment in two ways - the cash return every year and the equity growth return every year. A good measure is around a 2% dividend/interest return and around a 3.5% for a total of 5.5% total return. So those who want to include the extraordinary value growth of the Cardinals over the Dewitt ownership years have a point. But the problem is liquidity. You can sell a stock easily. Not so with a franchise. So the principal growth is all on paper. It's great, but the business entity itself has to cash flow.

Yes, let’s look at the reality of the situation. You come on here and spout that the Stadium debt service is chewing up all profit. You claim the local TV contract has decimated the annual Revenue……and on and on. But the TV deal is twice as much as it was in 2006 when the the stadium financing was secured and it’s only 17mil(58 from 75) less than the HUGE GREAT loss from the local TV deal you continually bring up as to why they don’t have the money spend on payroll. So we found it……17mil. This is huge game changer????
Now since they let the club go to poo and have and by doing so have shot themselves in the foot and thus lowered revenue……thats on them….not the TV contract. Unless you’re now going to claim at the 17mil difference caused this……

Seriously, the fact that BDW’s investment of 150 million is now worth 2.55 BILLION! Means a whole lot must’ve went right for him. And even if the Cards TV money decreased, they still received revenue sharing from the teams that saw increases. And what did they do with that money? Probably invested in their latest sports betting business.

Anyone claiming ownership is losing money on this team is buying a false narrative. If they were, they would sell. Like the front office suck-ups like to say, they’re in the business of turning a profit.

[WLTFE]

The great thing about an anonymous forum is that you can make up a fascinating life story and it's all bull[shirt]...and the older you get , you can keep piling on more and more lies

[Wattage]

When allocating needed money to improve the Cardinals. Isn't he a billionaire? The Dodgers spent $300 million this season on salaries. They've won the last two World Series. The Cardinals haven't even been to the playoffs for the last three seasons. DeWitt needs to put 2 and 2 together.

DeWitt could spend 200M a year on payroll and not miss a penny of it.

It kind of poses the question of how badly he really wants to have a top echelon MLB team.

teams and all owners want to make a profit first. spending all your money to brag you win a sports competition just doesnt mean as much to people as you think.

as for the Dodgers- they spend more but they all make way more money from their market tv deals merchandising ohtani that they can spend 100 million more than every other owner and still be making more profits than the others.

[BobbyOrr]

The question is,

Will Bloom be Able to cut down the low hanging Fruit tree?

[Goldfan]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

Unless you understand what’s happened with cable contracts, the dumbing down of the game, and possible cash calls, you may be a fan, but you’re a naive fan.

We do understand what happened to the cable contract. It’s doubled since 2006(when stadium financing was finalized) and has declined by 17mil from the original current TV contract signed in ‘18(down from 75mil). So again your positions repeated MANY times already is that BDW having issues with paying his debt service from a deal in ‘06 because a local TV contract declined from 75mil annually to 58mil. So 17mil is the reason why he reduced payroll 75mil, can’t pay 20yr old stadium financing, and won’t spend on top talent to refill his stadium which would push his revenue back to where it was…….$17mil completely destroyed the St. Cardinals. MAKES NO SENSE…..AND YOU KNOW IT

[Cranny]

Two things can be true at the same time.

Baseball's economics need a serious overhaul, including a salary cap/floor and increased revenue sharing.
Bill DeWitt can and should spend a higher percentage of baseball revenues on payroll.

1.) For sure.
2.) Sure, as long as the company has break even or positive cash flow.

You are not a fan; you are a company man only looking at profits. It may be time for you to find another (hobby) sport to follow.

I've been a fan as long as you have. But I'm also the owner of a company and have consulted owners of privately held companies in both the U.S. and Europe for over 45 years. I'm not sure you have that kind of background. But one thing I would point out to you - there may be a cash call provision in the St. Louis Cardinals LLC operating agreement. That could make a big difference in how/why the LLC stays at or above the break even or above cash flow line.

Like I said, you are a company man and not a fan.

And you obviously have never been a business owner.

s.You are a company man only looking at profit You need to find a business forum and not Cards talk.

Unless you understand what’s happened with cable contracts, the dumbing down of the game, and possible cash calls, you may be a fan, but you’re a naive fan.

We do understand what happened to the cable contract. It’s doubled since 2006(when stadium financing was finalized) and has declined by 17mil from the original current TV contract signed in ‘18(down from 75mil). So again your positions repeated MANY times already is that BDW having issues with paying his debt service from a deal in ‘06 because a local TV contract declined from 75mil annually to 58mil. So 17mil is the reason why he reduced payroll 75mil, can’t pay 20yr old stadium financing, and won’t spend on top talent to refill his stadium which would push his revenue back to where it was…….$17mil completely destroyed the St. Cardinals. MAKES NO SENSE…..AND YOU KNOW IT

Simple question. If revenue declines below cost, what do you do as a business man?