He Hate Me

I don't know what other systems YES is available on but I have to believe that if it were a place outside of New York or New Jersey it would be a premium channel as it won't be part of any regional basic sports package that local cable operators carry. Given YES' extremely strong desire to be a considered a local basic channel on the Time Warner and Cablevision systems, I have to believe that the majority of the TV dollars comes from advertising not premium subscribers. As long as the Yankees put a winning team on the field, sponsors will pay through the nose to be on YES. Your point about TV networks is well taken. This is one area that small market teams will never be able to compete unless there is full blown revenue sharing as in the NFL, which I don't mind, but then I believe that 100% of all shared revenue (national and local TV) should be diverted into the team.

How many homegrown Yankees are on the current roster and how many homegrown Red Sox are on the current roster? In fact how many players on the White Sox last year were home grown? Does the Yankees have more or less or around the same number?

This statement makes sense. But with respect to our discussion about new avenues of revenue for the Yankees with increased interest in baseball overall, this doesn't relate, as the Yankees would, according to this statement, get money frOm every Cablevision subscriber even those who don't want the YES network (since it is part of the basic package). wow...

YES is considered a basic channel if I recall correctly.

Your claim was that I had to pay extra for YES in the form of my cable bill. I'm arguing that I and other Yankee fans were already paying for our cable bills before YES got picked up by Cablevision, AND that we did NOT have to pay extra because of it.

No I'm saying that my cable bill is 60 bux a month with or without YES heh that's cool. I don't think a cap would solve everything but it defnetely wouldn't be as effective without a salary floor to force the cheapskates in KC and Minnesota to cough up some of that money

It may be deferred for the public funds, but as far as I know, that 800 mil is coming straight out of the team's coffers. I think thats a pretty accurate statement. Though I don't know if they're gonna do seat licensing.

It's included on the Cablevision bill. They didnt raise prices when YES was added. There aren't people who decided to goto Cablevision simply because YES was on there. Those people were already watching the Yankees on Cablevision from when they were on MSG. All it did in effect was switch channels at no additional cost. no. I am in favor of a floor and cap, which is why I said if there was a floor of 50 mil and a cap of 100 mil, the difference between team salaries would be only 50 instead of 150. I'm not sure how you're getting that from what I said.

good point about Miami. I can't understand how the hell they don't draw. Maybe it's the cookie cutter stadium they play in or maybe they don't do enough community stuff. Anyone know more about this? I mean, is it a Cuban-Dominican thing? I don't get it. I agree with this also. The current revenue sharing program should just be called the Yankees sharing program because I don't think anyone else pays the luxury tax except the Yankees. The other clubs need to pitch in somehow.

How much money you think the Yankees are gonna blow on FAs when we got a $800 million bill to pay? if we do pickup Zito or whoever this year it's because we have money coming off the books. The Yankee payroll will be the same or prbably less for the next 3 or 4 years.

The Yankees are drawing people in record numbers this year and have been for the last few years. We're averaging almost 50,000+ per home game. I don't think George is worrying about those few empty seats. YES is a regional sports network and is free on Time Warner (I believe) and Cablevision, the two main cable operators in New York, it's also available on DirecTv as part of its regional sports package. I don't subscribe to YES, it's part of my basic TV package with Cablevision. If more people became yankee fans, they simply have to turn on their TV. if the floor is 50 mil and the ceiling is 100 mil. I'm pretty sure they would stand a closer chance than the current $150 mil difference.

I don't think so. NY is sold out pretty much every year. Plus the NY brand is also already out there. There might be an increase in revenue but NY won't get as much. Markets like Tampa Bay would feel the effect much more. i think the NY Yankee brand is pretty much maxed out right now in terms of revenue. The Yankees are where they are because Steinbrenner continually reinvested his own personal money into the team. Does the Twins owner do that? No, he's a billionaire who gets a revenue sharing check from George which promptly goes into his pockets. How about the KC owner? The Yankees floundered in the late 80's and early 90's. being in a big market doesn't guarantee anything except a larger potential audience and fanbase. It's always up to the individual owners of the team and their dedication to the success of the organization. If the Yankees revenue stream suddenly went belly up for no reason, I'm sure George would invest his own personal money into the team to keep it a success. Another example. Consider how much the Yankees are paying for the new stadium out of their own pockets ($800 million), then consider how many owners beg their states or cities to foot the whole bill. George is willing to put al his money on the table for the success of his team. If the small market owners had this mentality, maybe we wouldn't be dealing with this right now. last point. How good do you feeel knowing that part of the 100 bux you just spent on a ticket, 2 hot dogs, 2 beers, and a parking pass is actually going to the pockets of a millionaire who doesn't care about putting money into the team?

So what do you think can be done about this then? I really don't think the owners will ever allow a salary floor to go through. If baseball did a better job of promoting its sport (without steroid boys) then maybe this would be a moot point. I htink baseball's marketing team needs to take a look at themselves and stop trying to compare their game to the NBA or NFL (where it's action all the time). Accept the sport for what it is, a 3 hour diversion from the stresses of everyday living, a time for the family to get together and talk about things while watching a pitcher throw over to first base 5 times in one minute. baseball is the ultimate conversation sport, because you need to constantly watch the field in football, basketball, and hockey. baseball gives you a chance to relax, but at the same time it also gives you the exciting moments that we crave in this day and age. If the marketing team could somehow market MLB as an alternative to the Xtreme generation, then maybe we might have something.

I think if you force KC and Pitt and Tampa to spend 40-50 mil a yar every year, they're bound to be competitive. Problem is I don't think they can be profitable. Baseball's biggest problem is overexpansion, IMO

You don't become a fan of any team by asking people who you should be a fan of. And you serisouly don't make that kind of decision between Boston and New York. Not being hostile, but if this was the late 80's-early 90's yankees and pre-2004 red Sox, would you even be thinking of being a fan of either team? I'm a fan of the Yankees because some of the first English words I ever learned to speak correctly were "Holy Cow" and "Huckleberry". I'm sure the real Red Sox fans around here remember and were serisouly ticked when Boggs rode around Yankee Stadium on the horse waving his "we're no. 1" finger. None of us had to ask should I root for the Sox or the Yanks. And BTW, I think you're a troll. I only bothered to post the above for other poster's viewing pleasure.

It's simple. The players don't want a cap and the owners don't want a floor. The current system is profitable for the players and for the owners who only want to spend 30 mil a year.

Some guy in a Yankee forum put this classic post up from a Red Sox fansite after the first four games. I know it's easier for me to laugh at it, but I thought you guys might sympathize with him. His level of frustration is about as bad as mine was in 2004 when the NL Fraud pitcher on our staff served up a GS to Johnny...bleh well you know the rest.

I think a salary floor is just as important as a salary cap. If the small market teams want revenue sharing, they need to take that money they gte and put it right back into the product on the field rather than line their pockets like the Royals and Twins of the world.

Would this be the same Orioles team that spent $330 million compared to the Yankees $359 million from 1996-2000 when the Yankees took 4 out of 5 World Series? And how exactly will a salary cap help competitive balance when the Marlins are spending 15 million dollars a year? Do you really think putting in a salary cap of oh let's say $120 mil will get those teams who consistently lounge around 40-50 mil a year to do any better? MLB: Ok everyone now you can only spend $120 bux today Marlins, Royals, Devil rays: Great, we only spend around 40-50 at most anyway!

You don't go to someone else's house and crap on their sofa, nor do you make a point to tell them just how horrendously bad their food is. There are better ways to make fun of Red Sox fans, and you can do all of that on a general baseball site like MLB.com or ESPN.com.

Ok I love what Bobby's done so far, but is it me or does he have the stupidest looking jog in the world? The only way I can describe it is that my puppy walks the same way.

Lily showed up his manager on the mound and should be disciplined for that. I'm not sure what happened in the hallway, but if Gibbons can't control himself around his players, he needs to be fired.

Is Mo warming up?