Friday, October 25, 2013

Of Payrolls and World Series

The 2013 World Series appears to be yet another matchup between two MLB powerhouses, leaving the league's "poor" once again battling over tee times.  According to NewBallpark.org, its now been 10 years since a the Marlins became the last World Series-winner with a payroll under $70 million.

And while St. Louis sports a $117 million payroll this year, you can't call the Cards a large-market team.  In fact, St. Louis is only the 21st-largest media market in the country. For comparison's sake: New York is No. 1; Boston is No. 7; Tampa Bay is No. 14.

BusinessWeek writes:
The St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, are the definition of mid-market. At $805 million, they are the 15th-most-valuable franchise out of 30. They have the league’s second-best attendance, but sit near the bottom in revenue from TV rights.
It's clear revenues help a team buy depth and afford mistakes. Oakland and Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh made phenomenal runs this year...but petered out when it mattered most.  St. Louis gets exceptional revenues from its die-hard fan base filling the stadium.

But money doesn't always buy happiness.  The Yankees stunk despite spending more than the Athletics, Rays, and Pirates combined.  Somewhere, George Steinbrenner is cursing...

3 comments:

  1. Blah, blah, blah, sounds like just another Red Sox fan from Bahstun tooting their horn while taking the opportunity to look down on the rest of the league through shit talking. Besides, 4 teams in the bottom 10 in payroll out of 10 teams made the playoffs, and had as good of a chance as anyone to win it. But, as for us (meaning real Rays fans, not fake people like you that like their Sox or Yanks) like our Rays, and when we get a new stadium, the term "small market" will have new meaning here...

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    1. Nice, stupid, typical Dufala comment.
      Completely avoid the main point of the post:
      **** Lots of money does not win a World Series****

      So basically you're fine with throwing millions of MY taxes at a bunch of private multimillionaires that can't and most likely won't guarantee a championship. What it WILL do is to make the team ($500+ million in value) even more lucrative.

      How's that strategy working out for the Bucs over there, dummy? Or are you gonna tell us that their stadium isn't 'new' enough?

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    2. Dude, please don't butt into 2 grown men talking sports, something seemed to know nothing about! Maybe the BINGO-hall might offer something you can manly talk competitive trash in, in the mean while stop embarrassing yourself... lol

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