For those fans of MLB you may know that the teams in poor locations cry poor whenever an issue of collective bargaining comes up, and every team cries poor whenever the issue of stadium spending comes up. The arguments usually sound something like “If this city does not build this stadium for us we will not be able to remain competitive”. When collective bargaining comes about the talk sounds like “We cannot afford these players and need a cap on salaries just to stay competitive”.
The natural response is “prove it by opening your books” but no team has ever done this in the history of the leagues. Now their dirty little secrets have been leaked out to deadspin. The inside financial numbers of the Pirates, and Marlins (two of the lowest payroll, and smallest markets) among others have leaked out and show they actually make quite a bit of money (or some would say they are sitting on the money that was given to them via revenue sharing).
Now if you pay taxes that eventually went to the Marlin’s or Pirates’ stadiums (which as Pennsylvanian residence I believe many of you have) and your local government is living in these tight times wouldn’t you be demanding an investigation into why they got this money? Did they lie to get it? Did the politicians know they were financially sound and gave them the money anyway? Is the federal government justified in their investigation into if a player took steroids (or more accurately lied about taking them under oath) but not investigating the appropriation of tens, often hundreds of millions of dollars to a seemingly thriving business?
Congrats to deadspin for doing what players unions and traditional newspapers have failed to accomplish. Very impressive considering how long the unions and papers have been trying to get this info, and how short a period of time deadspin has been around.
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I had no idea that these small teams have never opened their books to the league. It seems like there is a good deal of corruption inside of these small market stadiums, and makes me wonder if stricter sanctions should be implemented. I am curious, however, to see how much money the bigger franchises sit on themselves. I would guess that this sort of fraud exists in stadiums of all sizes. In my opinion, they should just demand an open-book policy, and hopefully we'd be able to see at least a little bit more honesty out of these franchises.
ReplyDeleteMax Ufberg
American Economy
As a Pennsylvania resident and an Education major here at Temple, I look at these findings as incomprehensible. With very little economic experience, I went off of my basic understanding of both supply and demand and opportunity cost while looking at these findings. I understand the general idea that sports teams tend to bring in a lot of money for a city because many people (including myself) enjoy going to games or watching sports on TV, but the extent to which funds are distributed is a still unsettling when I begin to think about where all the money comes from. I was shocked to read that a professional sports organization, whose individual markets ultimately receive money from the general public via taxes, is not required to release records of where this money goes. Neither local nor federal governments would pay money forward to a school district, which directly correlates to and affects the members of the general public, without first seeing some numbers. It would be interesting to see government funding for local baseball teams and government funding for local public schools graphed on a production possibilities curve.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia is a big city in Pennsylvania, but our baseball team differs in that we have a recent World Series victory, and therefore have a higher demand (larger fan base). I would imagine, then, that the amount of money being handled is far more than that of the Pirates. This idea now brings the question to mind about how much is earned through the Phillies, and how much is handed over to the Phillies to keep them in a top spot. If the latter is the case, to what extent or amount is the city losing funding for other entities, such as the Philadelphia School District? The basic concept of opportunity cost states that something must be forgone (perhaps education) in order to support something else (baseball). Deadspin reported that in 2008, $23, 182, 677 was spent on “player development”. So, in terms of opportunity cost, how much funding for academic development was forgone in order to support player development? It makes me quite uncomfortable to consider the fact that those who have power over regulating local, state, and/or government funds may discretely distribute money to sports teams at the expense of general public necessities (i.e. education). Unfortunately, the “small” market baseball teams, like the Pirates, appear to make more than what was initially thought; contrastingly, lower-ranked, poverty-stricken urban schools receive even less money than most people would initially think.
N'keya Peters (Tue, Thur 8am-9:20am)
ReplyDeleteI also believe that an open book policy should be practiced and mandatory whenever a team claims that they have no money or need money from the city. The government in general practices means testing with everything in which students have to "open their books" by submitting w2s and other tax forms in order to get financial aid. Single parents have to submit these documents also in order to get assistance for their families. If they choose not to open their books, they wouldn't get assistance. This should be practices with the baseball teams, why should they be treated any differently? If anything more policies should regulate funds allocated to them because they receive more money...I believe that they should be held to the same standards as others who ask the city for financial assistance...especially when their players get paid millions of dollars but that's another story....
Kimberly Flok MWF 2-250
ReplyDeleteBaseball owners have had the reputation of being shady about their money in the past but now theres finally a good amount of proof. Teams like the Marlins, Nationals, Orioles, and Pirates have whined for years about how their isn't a competitive balance in the sports because other teams had more money than them but apparently that wasn't completely true. Their owners were just stingy with the money they received from the collective bargaining agreement, which is disrespectful to their fans and fans of the game. The information released in this report should be made public record annually from now on so the fans know the truth. Also, with the current economical troubles, I don't understand how the organizations could take the taxpayers money and still complain.
The baseball stadium issue has bothered me for years, but with the way the world is now I take it more to heart. The American focus on sports, particularly baseball, is outrageous and everyone including the fans are the ones paying for it. I was unaware that the teams had never opened there books and it strikes me as shocking that this has ever been allowed, as said previously an open book policy should be implemented and should never be overlooked when a team is looking for money. We are setting ourselves up for failure and the economic state we are in now is just evidence of our troubles.
ReplyDeleteJasmin Eales
MWF
It is pretty outrageous that the books for the baseball franchises have been kept a secret for so long. However, I think it is unnecessary for these clubs to request new stadiums as much as they do. They cost millions of dollars, and can bring in revenue, but it all comes down to the success of the teams. For example, if a team gets a shiny new stadium but continues to have losing seasons, they will have a smaller fan base. Also, older stadiums such as Wrigley Field and the Big Green Monster at Fenway Park bring in thousands of tourists every year, and they have been standing for years. Therefore, I do not think it is necessary for these baseball franchises to request money to bring in revenue, and obviously they are doing some shady things with the cash they do receive.
ReplyDeleteShannon Lutz
MWF