I`m not sure a hard salary cap will work, but this is a train wreck that needs to be fixed. Yes, teams that draft well can have success every so many years. Marlins, Rays, Twins, A`s and Rockies are good examples, but end up losing their star players when they are arbitration eligible. Going into spring training 2009, nearly half the teams have absolutely no chance of reaching the postseason. Thats not good for the game. And I`m afraid the New York teams are going to make the situation even worse since they are moving into new parks. The new Yankee Stadium was built for a record 1.3 billion dollars. A regular field box seat ticket will cost $250, while premium box seats cost $2500 per game. All are sold out for 2009. Luxury suites range from $650,000 to $800,000 per season, and all that remains unsold are a few suites located down the baselines. The Mets are moving into Citi Field, which was built at a discounted price of 800 million.
🙄 Box seats will average $495 a pop. There are 49 luxury suites ranging from $275,000 to $500,000 per season, and all are sold out. And to think, this country is in the worst recession since the great depression!!!
I`ve lived in St. Louis all my life, and am a die hard Cardinals fan. In their proud history they`ve won 10 World Series titles. But I wonder if I`ll live to see another one under the present climate. In order to make a profit, the Cardinals owners claim they can`t exceed much over a one hundred million dollar payroll. That puts them in the upper middle of the pack. They play in a three year old park which was built at a cost of 360 million dollars. They sell out nearly every game, and have squeezed the taxayers to the max. I rarely go to games anymore, unless I get free tickets because its simply too expensive. For the most part, in order for the Cardinals to win they will have to get better at developing their own talent via the draft or get lucky in trades.
Attending a baseball game with your family used to be such a fun and inexpensive event, but now if you take a family of four to a game you practically have to spend half your weekly paycheck just for upper deck seats. I can`t blame the Yankee`s, Mets, Red Sox and to a smaller degree, the Cubs for spending the money they do on player salaries. I used to travel to Chicago nearly every year to attend a Cards-Cubs game. Wrigley Field is not the cash cow that the new stadiums are with luxury suites, etc. What they have done is start their own ticket brokerage firm. Outside of season ticket holders, very few single game seats are available to the general public. They have scalpers outside of Wrigley selling tickets at greatly inflated prices. As long as fans are willing to foot the bill, the problems are only going to get worse.
i can sit upperdeck at a sox game for 12-20 dollars
As to the Twins, You are right in that they opened the vault to a degree to sign Joe Mauer. But they can only afford to do that with a few players, unlike the big market teams who are throwing money around like candy this winter. My complaint is the gap between big and small revenue generating teams is growing. Mitchell is correct. AJ Burnett would have been a huge addition for the mid market Braves, but I knew they would come up short with their offer.
