[todeen]

Originally Posted by packs

What exactly is a small market team, though? Don't they have a billionaire owner too?

All of the money is from apparel and tv contracts. When the Dodgers landed their last tv contact, it gave them the ability to spend extravagantly. They were established long before the Padres, win more often, and have a historical following. All of that makes them the largest draw in the region for MLB, hardly any competition. Whereas the Reds are surrounded by other clubs with larger fan bases: the Cubs to the north, and St. Louis to the south. Even the Brewers and Pirates draw away possible fans. So the Reds tv money is far less, and their apparel as well. And the one farther goes outside of Cincinnati, the fewer fans one meets. Whereas when I went to Derek Jeters final series in Seattle, there was hardly a Mariners fan to be seen. I was swamped in a sea of black and white and pin stripes.

As for every owner being billionaires, that answer is simple: these men and women became billionaires by spending other peoples money. They don't spend their own, otherwise they wouldn't be billionaires. They are not going to spend $300 to $400 million of their own money to sign a Trout, Harper, Tatis, Machado. They will spend tv money, ticket money, and apparel money. And if that pot of money is substantially smaller in a small market team, than the players are going to be paid contracts of small markets. Homer Bailey's and Votto's contracts are the killer of competition for the Reds.

Further, in the last couple of years the competitive balance checks have grown smaller as well since the big spenders have attempted to go under the defacto salary cap. Its just another stream of revenue that got pinched.

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