Major League Baseball is back on solid financial footing. Just ask Major League Baseball. Everything is fine, they say. And this time, they may just be telling the truth.
Even Paul Godfrey, chief executive officer of the Toronto Blue Jays says that the maligned sport may finally have turned the business corner, where money is now being spent wisely, not wasted.
"Things are getting better, for sure," Godfrey said the other day as he waited for a flight out of New York City. "The owners saw that they were on a dead-end street where they couldn't keep losing money. For us, we're doing exactly what we should be doing. Our payroll is around US$53-million, and will be lower than that next season."
MLB's Rob Manfred said recently that revenue sharing is working because it allows the small-market teams to compete.
Economists agree the system will eventually be beneficial because it will lead to lower salaries and player contracts that don't run too many years. Perhaps even the right to negotiate a new contract based on performance, with fewer teams being locked into long term deals with players who don't produce. Just like the old days.
Other than the New York Yankees, teams are striving to keep their payrolls under the new US$117-million line that sets off baseball's luxury tax.
A year ago, according to The New York Times, MLB was projecting that six to eight teams would be unable to resist a mid-season splurge and would face the tax. But now, almost every trade between teams is money-based.
The small-market, MLB-owned Montreal Expos, who will be moving as soon as someone, somewhere in the United States builds them a stadium, did not trade their star, Vladimir Guerrero, before the deadline. Instead, the Expos remain in contention for the National League wild-card spot.
For the Blue Jays, revenue sharing will be a windfall this year, with the club pulling in about US$14-million once all is said and done, roughly US$3-million more than last season. And as Godfrey says, every little bit helps, especially when you are dealing with a Canadian dollar that has ceased climbing.
"What baseball needs to do is define big-revenue markets versus small-revenue markets," Godfrey says.
"Everyone thinks Toronto should be a bigger-revenue market, but we're at such a disadvantage with currency. Even so, we will still try and break even as soon as we can."
Godfrey says revenue sharing is a good plan that should aid weaker clubs for some time, especially if you can up the amount you get from it each season.
"Of course, that all depends on how well the higher-market teams do," he says.
Under the collective bargaining agreement reached last August, baseball's richest teams are expected to share with their less-wealthy brethren more than ever before. This season, that total will be about US$260 million, with the Yankees' payout alone coming to nearly US$60 million.
Some months ago, several Canadian economists who watch pro sports suggested that at some point, the players and owners will become partners, share stadium revenue and the like. So far, the topic is taboo and has not been broached. But Godfrey says the way to ultimately win is to stay the course, stick to your business plan.
"We're only in the second year of a four to five year plan and we will stick to it, no matter what," he says.
Spoken like a baseball executive who finally sees a financial light at the end of the tunnel.
http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=DCEDE447-22AA-40E6-9580-A137F1DE6488
Even Paul Godfrey, chief executive officer of the Toronto Blue Jays says that the maligned sport may finally have turned the business corner, where money is now being spent wisely, not wasted.
"Things are getting better, for sure," Godfrey said the other day as he waited for a flight out of New York City. "The owners saw that they were on a dead-end street where they couldn't keep losing money. For us, we're doing exactly what we should be doing. Our payroll is around US$53-million, and will be lower than that next season."
MLB's Rob Manfred said recently that revenue sharing is working because it allows the small-market teams to compete.
Economists agree the system will eventually be beneficial because it will lead to lower salaries and player contracts that don't run too many years. Perhaps even the right to negotiate a new contract based on performance, with fewer teams being locked into long term deals with players who don't produce. Just like the old days.
Other than the New York Yankees, teams are striving to keep their payrolls under the new US$117-million line that sets off baseball's luxury tax.
A year ago, according to The New York Times, MLB was projecting that six to eight teams would be unable to resist a mid-season splurge and would face the tax. But now, almost every trade between teams is money-based.
The small-market, MLB-owned Montreal Expos, who will be moving as soon as someone, somewhere in the United States builds them a stadium, did not trade their star, Vladimir Guerrero, before the deadline. Instead, the Expos remain in contention for the National League wild-card spot.
For the Blue Jays, revenue sharing will be a windfall this year, with the club pulling in about US$14-million once all is said and done, roughly US$3-million more than last season. And as Godfrey says, every little bit helps, especially when you are dealing with a Canadian dollar that has ceased climbing.
"What baseball needs to do is define big-revenue markets versus small-revenue markets," Godfrey says.
"Everyone thinks Toronto should be a bigger-revenue market, but we're at such a disadvantage with currency. Even so, we will still try and break even as soon as we can."
Godfrey says revenue sharing is a good plan that should aid weaker clubs for some time, especially if you can up the amount you get from it each season.
"Of course, that all depends on how well the higher-market teams do," he says.
Under the collective bargaining agreement reached last August, baseball's richest teams are expected to share with their less-wealthy brethren more than ever before. This season, that total will be about US$260 million, with the Yankees' payout alone coming to nearly US$60 million.
Some months ago, several Canadian economists who watch pro sports suggested that at some point, the players and owners will become partners, share stadium revenue and the like. So far, the topic is taboo and has not been broached. But Godfrey says the way to ultimately win is to stay the course, stick to your business plan.
"We're only in the second year of a four to five year plan and we will stick to it, no matter what," he says.
Spoken like a baseball executive who finally sees a financial light at the end of the tunnel.
http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=DCEDE447-22AA-40E6-9580-A137F1DE6488
