Pirates Sign Rowdy Tellez

The other two sports – the teams have been on equal footing financially with every other market in the league for the better part of two decades (NHL salary cap) and closer to 3 decades (NFL). Prior to the implementation of both, those franchises had blips of success amid years of bleakness (or in the Penguins’ case, bankruptcy). The NFL has had TV revenue sharing since their merger, which coincides with the Steelers rise; the Penguins were a sorry franchise when Mario Lemieux wasn’t around.

In rough numbers, do you have any idea what percentage of the Dodgers’ overall revenue Ohtani’s contract will be? I can tell you this much, Ohtani’s salary would represent at least 35-40% of the Pirates’ entire operating budget. In LA, Ohtani, at most, could hit 20% of the overall budget. You can’t spend money you don’t have. If anything, fans should be railing against the short-sightedness of the large markets and the player’s union – there are now about 21-22 markets out of the 30 who have no legitimate chance at either signing or keeping a top talent. The number will just keep growing until anyone who’s good will only be able to choose between the Dodgers or the Yankees.

I’d love to see your line-item accounting of “free money” given out by the large markets to the small. The first $13 million of any payments to a recipient go to pay the team’s union benefit obligations.

I know in NYC the world ends at the edges of the five boroughs; but the reality is that the Yankees could spend $500 million in total operating expenses every year and still make more money than a Pirates’ team spending $300 million. The Pirates are trying to increase their revenue streams (around the stadium development a la the Battery in Atlanta), but will never be able to make the same money back from their investment as the Braves do.

Without the “free money” many markets would be operating in the red at current payroll + expenses. So you’re saying the Pirates could feasibly spend $225 million each year (3X last year’s payroll) on the MLB payroll alone? I’d suggest, based on the Pirates’ market, expenses and best possible revenue each year that even a $150 million yearly payroll would have them in a situation where they’re post-dating checks and hoping they’ll clear. Same goes for most of the rust belt – Cleveland, KC, Milwaukee – they gamble a little extra expenses to hope to see return on investment, then end up having to pull back when that doesn’t result in a championship or any long-term market gains.

St. Louis has at least two mid-market cities within their geographic area: Memphis and Little Rock. Memphis is bigger than Pittsburgh in population, Little Rock is about half the size. If the Cardinals were limited in available fanbase to only the St. Louis metro area, they would be hurting financially. Given the franchise’s historical success, they have a wider national following. In other words, there’s a better chance of St. Louis getting revenue outside their market than the Pirates, not to mention that the Cardinals have a larger number of available people to attend games.

The Steelers have a huge national following and often fill other teams’ stadiums; the Cards do better than most in that respect.