And this is extended to any professional team in every professional sport; they get revenue due TV rights, advertising, merchandise, tickets, etc. and guess what? The fans are the only reason that all this happens, the only! without them this would be another amateur team...
If you put The Boston Red Sox value chain in a business case in order to measure any metric (ROI, IRR, EBIT, PAYROLL, etc.) , Every part of the case would be related with the fans' contribution, every part.
If you ask Henry and Theo, they would say that the fans are the most important PART of the team, and they are, you bet!
So... Putting that way, Kevin Youkilis and every single player should start worry if those rally caps, tickets, mlb.tv, pizzas, beers, etc. weren't consumed by the fans anymore, otherwise they wouldn't be paid, and you know what, there is not other reality, trust me!
So... I would go to therapy if you go to finance classes . (just kidding :harhar: )