Cards Need an Owner Who Doesn't Need to make a profit

[45s]

So…

You want an owner who will operate the club as a public service?

Good luck with that…

Plenty of billionaires own sports teams as a hobby and would spend out of their own pocket to see a championship. Steve Cohen does it - and what else is he going to spend it on? Pretty much ALL college boosters and NIL donors operate this way. Where are they seeing a profit?

If we could have an owner like Cohen who would just spend freely to see a winner AND invest it smartly and agressively, I and most here would be happy fans and love the guy.

And if monkeys fly out of your butt you can join the circus….

[Mort Gage]

The Cards need an owner that won't drive me crazy
The Cards need an owner that won't drive me crazy
Some owner that knows the meaning of, "Hey, hit the highway"

[JuanAgosto]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

[woofy25]

Define profit?

If I buy stock at $150,000,000 and it appreciates over 30 years to $2.55 billion, and some years had dividends (operating profit) and others did not, did I profit?
Yes, not operating profits every year, but having a 17-fold value increase is extremely good. And I can hang on to the stock, knowing that when I sell it, it will bring that enormous value gain.

P.S. - They bought the team for $150 million, but then sold the parking garage for $150 million, so they made back their investment in year one.

Except your $150M stock purchase has no operating costs and no taxes unless you sell. Soooo, not an apples to apples comparison in the slightest.
With selling the garage, they theoretically made their initial investment back, but you again don’t mention the fact that its costs money to run a franchise and there’s a cost of doing business when doing real estate deals. So, again, you’re not thinking it all the way through.
I don’t know if the cardinals are cash flowing or not, but your explanation of profit needs some work.

[BrockFloodMaris]

DeWitt is an amazing investor and has bought the Cards for $150 million and turned it into a $2.5 billion investment. I applaud him for that but evidently, he needs to make more money from the team. That's understandable, but if for example, the Taylor family bought the Cardinals, Andy and the family make so much money from Enterprise car leasing that they could treat the Cards as a loss leader and tax write-off. I understand the advantages that the mega market teams have in broadcast revenue, but I get the sense that they aren't concerned with making short term money from the ballclub. DeWitt owns Arby's franchises and lots of other investments but perhaps he could keep the stadium and sell the club to someone like the Taylor's who would do so as a way to honor the city and keep making gazillions renting cars and bring the Cardinals into a competitive club for free agents and be willing to operate as a loss for a while. I've lost confidence in the DeWitts. They want to do things on the cheap. Perhaps they have to. Having investments doesn't necessarily translate to cash flow. I spent decades mocking the futility of the Cubs. Now, I fear, we are going to flounder for a long time.

We do need BDW to support a POBO with good a plan. What the Cards really need is a POBO who isn’t lazy, arrogant and stubborn. I think we might have the right guy in place now. We also need a plan that makes sense that the fans can rally around. I think Bloom may provide that. We also need an on field product that is fun to watch (see Brewers). I’m not sure Oli can pull off a Pat Murphy. And lastly, we need fans who will show up for the birds on the bat. Hey, we’re already here. Just give us a reason to buy a ticket.

[mattmitchl44]

So…

You want an owner who will operate the club as a public service?

Good luck with that…

Plenty of billionaires own sports teams as a hobby and would spend out of their own pocket to see a championship. Steve Cohen does it - and what else is he going to spend it on? Pretty much ALL college boosters and NIL donors operate this way. Where are they seeing a profit?

If we could have an owner like Cohen who would just spend freely to see a winner AND invest it smartly and agressively, I and most here would be happy fans and love the guy.

Per this:

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/busines ... p/6221595/

only three teams had a negative EBITDA in 2024 - the Mets (89-73), White Sox (41-121), and Blue Jays (74-88). So few owners did not turn an operating profit, and turning a loss didn't necessarily lead to success.

The average EBITDA was +$19.9 million. The Cardinals were +$34.4 million. The average EBITDA without the Mets as an outlier was +$30.0 million.

[alw80]

So…

You want an owner who will operate the club as a public service?

Good luck with that…

Running a sports franchise like a business is a bad and boring way to run it. Ideally, sports franchises should be hobbies for these bloodsuckers not the next victim suck all the blood out of.

[The Nard]

Know of any?

[Stlcardsblues]

Cubs owner:

3rd largest market in USA and larger than all four division rivals combined.
Cross-town team is perenially even more inept.
Fans pack stadium win or lose.
Payroll potential is almost as great as Yankees or Dodgers but owner/POBO signs few free agents.
Owner pockets huge profits with payrolls usually outside the top 20% of MLB.

Cards owner:
Not among the 20 largest markets in USA. Bottom third of MLB.
Fans only come if team is winning. They disappear during a rebuild. First rebuild in 25 years is currently happening.
Owner usually has payrolls around 30-40th percentile of MLB and and fields a team often better than the Dodgers... until the past few years.
Payroll drops for 3 years during a rebuild and owner is villified for being cheap and only caring about profits.

Culprit: POBO became sentimental and stopped being among the MLB best. Owner failed to notice and act quickly... or was the driver of sentimentality.

The fans didn’t disappear because a rebuild started. They disappeared based on the arrogance of the front office and ownership towards the team and fans as they refused to admit their outdated philosophies needed to change.

If this was just a rebuild and it was handled differently the fan base would have supported the lean years better while it was going on.

[jbrach]

now this is hilarious...if only mcdonalds didnt need to make a profit imagine how cheap the food would be or if car companies didnt need to make a profit etc...why is the world would anyone buy anything and not expect to make a profit?...how utterly ridiculous

[rockondlouie]

Dewitt purchased a dynasty put together by Jocketty. He fired Jocketty. Walt brought in LaRussa, Duncan, McGwire, Walker, Pujols, Molina, Carpenter and much more. After firing Jocketty, Cards were still strong for a few years but the synergy dropped quickly after that. Replacing Walt with Mo was the beginning of a huge downturn. I’m not anti- DeWitt but Bill and his son don’t know as much about baseball as they think they do. I’m hopeful that Bloom can be the next Walt. I’m skeptical. Retaining Oli makes me extremely skeptical

BDWJr's call galatains, he wasn't going to pay Oli to sit on his a z z AND pay a new Manager in what Dewitt has determines is a throwaway, re-building season.

Bloom gets his Manager after the new CBA is in place.

I just bought some new sneakers……turns out after wearing a couple times they really hurt my feet…..I now have blisters……these sores won’t seem to heal……since the sneakers are new and I just paid $$$ for them I’ll continue to wear them instead of buying and wearing a new pair of sneakers….because why would I spend money on 2 pairs of sneakers when I just bought this one that will lead to my feet being possibly cut off…..
This is BDW logic with all these “sunken cost” terrible signings….destroy the Team(product) so he won’t have to pay for a replacement that produces WINS….Brilliant business man who partially because of the thinking has lost 1million butts in seats and commiserate income from 1mil butts

Amazes me how such a successful businessman just doesn't grasp "sunk cost" when it comes to his players.

He'd rather see them on the field (earning their money ) hurting his team than he would seeing them sit.

He has DFA'd but it's been a while (Mikolas should've been DFA'd long ago).

[Goldfan]

now this is hilarious...if only mcdonalds didnt need to make a profit imagine how cheap the food would be or if car companies didnt need to make a profit etc...why is the world would anyone buy anything and not expect to make a profit?...how utterly ridiculous

When you have multiple BILLIONS…..the next step is to be King of the sports world and your city…..
There is no King of McDonalds

[ScotchMIrish]

Kroenke is an example of a billionaire who doesn't need to make a profit but it's in his DNA to make a profit.

There are not many billionaires who fit the description of a person who doesn't mind losing money. Perhaps the hedge fund guy who owns the Mets. Or someone like Soros who made his money destabilizing overseas and investing in the destabilization. Easy money.

[Ozziesfan41]

Cubs owner:

3rd largest market in USA and larger than all four division rivals combined.
Cross-town team is perenially even more inept.
Fans pack stadium win or lose.
Payroll potential is almost as great as Yankees or Dodgers but owner/POBO signs few free agents.
Owner pockets huge profits with payrolls usually outside the top 20% of MLB.

Cards owner:
Not among the 20 largest markets in USA. Bottom third of MLB.
Fans only come if team is winning. They disappear during a rebuild. First rebuild in 25 years is currently happening.
Owner usually has payrolls around 30-40th percentile of MLB and and fields a team often better than the Dodgers... until the past few years.
Payroll drops for 3 years during a rebuild and owner is villified for being cheap and only caring about profits.

Culprit: POBO became sentimental and stopped being among the MLB best. Owner failed to notice and act quickly... or was the driver of sentimentality.

Not a very flattering depiction of the fanbase. None of this is their fault.

Agree. No one wants to pay a business a lot of money for a bad product

[Cusecards]

Know of any?

Steve Cohen of the Mets??
Never gets old watching them fold like an accordion as in 2025!

[Hofikebrucee]

DeWitt is an amazing investor and has bought the Cards for $150 million and turned it into a $2.5 billion investment. I applaud him for that but evidently, he needs to make more money from the team. That's understandable, but if for example, the Taylor family bought the Cardinals, Andy and the family make so much money from Enterprise car leasing that they could treat the Cards as a loss leader and tax write-off. I understand the advantages that the mega market teams have in broadcast revenue, but I get the sense that they aren't concerned with making short term money from the ballclub. DeWitt owns Arby's franchises and lots of other investments but perhaps he could keep the stadium and sell the club to someone like the Taylor's who would do so as a way to honor the city and keep making gazillions renting cars and bring the Cardinals into a competitive club for free agents and be willing to operate as a loss for a while. I've lost confidence in the DeWitts. They want to do things on the cheap. Perhaps they have to. Having investments doesn't necessarily translate to cash flow. I spent decades mocking the futility of the Cubs. Now, I fear, we are going to flounder for a long time.

Dumb (bleep) comment.