MLB, can of worms, salary cap, dead horse

Seriously, OOP, is the poor ppor owners try to enforce a salary cap on the next CBA, there will be a work stoppage of epic proportions.
Not even is piece of crap like Nutting is stupid enough to do that.

Oh, by the way, the Yankees paid luxury tax last season that was about $140,000 less than the Marlins entire payroll. The cheap bastards need to spend more than $27 mill on total payroll.

 

No-one's calling for a stoppage, but the probability is it happens. You know the players union won't like the artificial limits on contracts a salary cap would likely bring.

 

A work stoppage is much more probable in the NFL than in MLB.

 

Someone put up past nine seasons, let's try another cherrypick.

The past 13 seasons:

Average market size of MLB playoff participant: 9.89
Average market size of NFL division winners: 19.35

Average market size of World Series winners: 6.15 (1 LA win, 1 CHI win)
Average market size of Super Bowl winners: 18.00

If you guys can't grasp that, you are hopeless when it comes to statistics.

 

But not for long... ever.

Players' careers are too short... they live more ostentatiously,,,,, and their contracts aren't guaranteed.

 

What is the average market size for an MLB team versus the average market size for an NFL team?

 

As it's been stated, the two leagues don't share the same number of teams from the same cities so these stats mean zilch.

 

Based on 2000 census numbers:
The avg. MLB market is 5.7 million.
The avg. NFL market is 4 million.

What that translates into as far as market size, I don't know. But it does prove that MLB markets are considerably larger, on average.

 

http://community.sportsbubbler.com/forums/t/68412.aspx

Some highlights from this link ...

--There is a rather large difference in comparing the average league market ratings. Whereas the NFL must support 9 teams ranked 25th or lower in general television market size, the MLB must support 4 such markets.

--What a 6 : 4 playoff appearance between NFL and MLB does suggest is something close to "equivalent competition." Basically, for every 6 NFL playoff spots, count 4 MLB playoff spots as equivalent.

NFL: 62 appearances for top markets (6.2 appearances per team)
MLB: 46 appearances for top markets (4.6 appearances per team)

NFL: 52 appearances for middle markets (4.33 appearances per team)
MLB: 36 appearances for middle markets (4.00 appearances per team)

NFL: 55 appearances for 10 smallest markets (5.5 appearances per team)
MLB: 29 appearances for 10 smallest markets (2.9 appearances per team)

The top market NFL and MLB playoff appearances are almost perfectly equivalent (62 / 46 = 1.35). In fact, a 1.35 NFL : MLB playoff spot ratio means that the MLB is within the average playoff ratio, and that strength of their top markets in making the playoffs is proportional to that of the NFL. When you neutralize the data at the top end, the NFL is no less top-heavy than MLB.

 

The Cubs have taken tremendous advantage of the system in recent years, so it should come as no surprise to see somebody from that organization come out in support of it. And really, that is what Kenney is doing, supporting the system as much as he is supporting the Yankees.

Wolff's argument is just ridiculous. If I'm reading it right, he is saying baseball should go out of its way to make sure the New York teams win. Is that what you are trying to sell here, spnited? It goes right there with the suggestion that the Yankees help these teams by boosting attendance when they come visit. Of course, that doesn't help the National League teams that they visit only rarely if ever. I think those teams would benefit a lot more if they were better able to keep their own star players.

The Yankees would have no problem staying visible with a salary cap of $125-$150 million. They would still be a draw on the road. So much of baseball's revenue is regional (attendance, local broadcasting contracts), that favoring New York teams that are already extremely profitable while hurting the smaller markets is bad for the game as a whole.

To be clear, I'm not saying it is ruining the game or anything like that. I do believe it is a failure to maximize profits for all of MLB. This is the concept the powers that be in the NFL figured out a long time ago, yet it continues to escape many in baseball.

 

Which is why baseball should go with something like what jagtrader suggested. As I have said many times, baseball needs a salary floor more than it needs a cap, but it is unrealistic to think it will ever have the former without the latter.

 

Average TV market sizes
MLB: 13.2
2 of MLB's bottom-half markets (No. 12 or lower) have won World Series the past 13 years
NFL: 19.2
8 of the NFL's bottom-half markets (No. 17 or lower) have won Super Bowls in those past 13 years