Whatashame wrote: ↑02 Nov 2025 21:44 pm
CorneliusWolfe wrote: ↑02 Nov 2025 21:29 pm
Cranny wrote: ↑02 Nov 2025 21:22 pm
CorneliusWolfe wrote: ↑02 Nov 2025 20:02 pm
Ace07 wrote: ↑02 Nov 2025 18:44 pm
As attendance/ticket sales/revenues started decreasing, they have decreased spending hand in hand. Doesn't appear they will invest another penny of their own money over "budget" to re-invest in the organization.
You are right, but it’s wrong. BDW paid 150 million for a team now valued at 2.55 billion. Where’s the reward for that? The fans consistently packed the house when they had a team they believed in and it didn’t even require a top 10 payroll. His “budget” is a self imposed number that does not cover the cost of a premium product.
Businesses have to stand on their own.
Teams are like states and MLB is like a federal government. They are providing subsidies taken from the rich states and giving to the “poor” states with the intent of creating competitive balance. And the Cardinals and many other of these supposed poor teams are abusing the system by not reinvesting. They’re “standing on their own” alright. Everyone can keep blaming the big spenders though.
No one is “blaming” anyone. MLB has become out of balance, mostly because of the local media rights. Over the last 10? years local TV, radio and advertising has become a bigger windfall for the larger markets than anyone anticipated and has now created an imbalance of revenues between the larger and smaller markets. Baseball has to figure out a way to create a better balance between the larger and smaller markets. Whether it’s a cap/floor/revenue sharing issue or something else, it’s unmistakable that an imbalance is alive and well in MLB. This has to be addressed.
There is a case working through the federal courts that could well end up before SCOTUS.
MLB's antitrust exemption is being challenged yet again.
The courts and congress have whittled down portions of that exemption - but the core of it remains.
Inexplicably, SCOTUS has admitted MLB is in violation of the law - but must be allowed to do so because it has been permitted to flaunt the law for so long already.
That exemption allows MLB to do exactly what you mentioned above - control local media revenue streams by blocking other teams from selling their broadcast to those potential customers.
What MLB is doing currently is blatantly illegal - without the exemption.
Think of Paramount not being allowed to stream and sell content in Los Angeles, but Netflix having the exclusive ability to do so.
Think also of both parties agreeing to do so, but only if Netflix was blocked from New York and Paramount "owning" that market.
Which would be an even worse anti-trust violation.
But that is what MLB does.
Essentially, the union and the owners are involved in a criminal conspiracy currently - were it not for the anti-trust exemption.
The only hope for MLB - and fans - long term is for SCOTUS to do the right thing and revoke MLB's exemption.
That alone would fix the revenue and spending issue by opening all broadcast markets to all teams and all consumers (fans).
Hmmm....maybe I should join that suit as a consumer who is being denied and free and fair market......
DeTwit just assumed that fans would show regardless of how the team played. .he's out-of-touch and deserves having the fans stay home...apparently. most real fans care about watching a competitive team as opposed to be front office (donkey) kissers.