Reply #4: Not particularly [View All]

[never cry wolf]

I agree with your assessment that these players are average or a bit above and compared to many other salaries for better players they may seem over priced but it is a smaller and less talented free agent market pool than in the recent past. That means that the few players worth having are going to be in more demand.

By the way, ticket price has very, very little to do with the player payroll. Owners will charge as much as the market will bear. The Cubs have spent $300 M this off season on 6 free agents yet they have announced that ticket prices for '07 will not be raised. Why? Because they had a lot of no shows last year and pre-season demand is way down. Conversely on the south side the White Sox probably made more money last year than they ever have. Record attendance, highest local ratings, huge merchandise sales yet they have made no major deals and just dumped Freddy Garcia for 2 kids to get rid of his $10M salary. Oh yeah, due to continuing high demand, they have raisied their ticket prices. Gate receipts only account for about a third of revenue and player payroll a bit above half of expenses.

Of course the owners cry poor but despite the fact that there are many potential host cities clamoring for a team how many of them are looking to sell? These are savvy business people and they are not losing money. Their books may show it but they have many ways to hide revenue and steer overinflated expenses back into their own pockets. That does not even take into account the tens of millions they make every year due to the added value of their franchise and the sweetheart stadium deals paid for by local governments.