PHOENIX −The New York Yankees used to be the Evil Empire, signing the greatest free-agent players, having the biggest payroll and being the envy of Major League Baseball.
Yet, despite all of the belly-aching by owners and fans, the game survived, even thrived with baseball generating a record $12.1 billion last season, while the Yankees have won only one World Series in 25 years.
Now, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers that has everyone screaming with their $389 million payroll, which is at least $100 million more than any other team in baseball with the exception of the New York Mets.
The Dodgers may have only two World Series trophies since 1988, but the fear is that they are going to turn into the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, you know, a dynasty ruining the sport.
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So why all the clamoring for a salary cap now, or have teams share local TV revenue?
“It’s clear we have fans in some markets that are concerned about the ability of the team in their market to compete with the financial resources of the Dodgers,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday. “If we’ve been consistent on one point, it is we try to listen to our fans on topics like this.”
It certainly resurrects memories of the fans’ angst 30 years ago when the Yankees won the first of four World Series titles during their glorious run beginning in 1996.
You remember, the Yankees had a whopping $52 million in 1996, the highest in the major leagues. It was more than three times the size of the Montreal Expos’ payroll of $15.4 million. The game was going to be ruined, right?
“The dollars are obviously bigger,’’ Manfred said. “I think that the interesting fun fact is that the Dodgers, whatever they spent, are probably more profitable on a percentage basis that the old Yankees were, meaning it could be more sustainable.
“So, it is more of a problem. Look, it is the core of the issues in our economic system is that disparity driven difference in terms of the ability to compete, so it’s sort of the same.’’
And just like the Yankees, the Dodgers are certainly playing by the rules, signing the best possible players, winning year after year and making loads of money.
“The Dodgers have gone out and done everything possible,’’ Manfred said, “always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible team on the field. I think that’s a great thing for the game. That type of competitive spirit is what people want to see. …
“If I’m going to be critical of something, it’s not going to be the Dodgers. It’s going to be the system.’’
Manfred would love to see teams share their TV revenues, just like the NFL. He would welcome a salary cap too, just like the other sports. Yet, he wasn’t about to issue any threats, or drop any hints of potential demands in their next collective bargaining agreement.
This is a time, he said, to celebrate the sport, not start a debate whether a salary cap is needed. Still, after attending the owners’ meetings two weeks ago, he acknowledged that the owners are worried about competitive balance in the sport.
“We certainly have owners in the game who are as concerned as fans are about the level of disparity in the game,’’ Manfred said. “Look, we sell competition at the end of the day, you would expect them to be concerned. I think that that issue, combined with the effect of the changes in the media environment, are 1-2 on the radar screen of owners. They’re related, at least right now, because the brunt of the downturn in the regional sports network market has been felt generally in our smaller markets.’’
While there may be unrest among owners, the truth is that the game has never been healthier. Manfred expects attendance to rise for the third consecutive year. It averaged 29,373 fans a game last season, the most since 2017. The TV ratings jumped, particularly with the Dodgers and Yankees playing in the World Series. The younger audience, ages 18-34, continues to grow.
Manfred, who recently visited the Athletics’ new joint in Sacramento where they’ll play in the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A Sutter Health Park for three years, even called the ballpark “charming,’’ and that everything is set for the A’s to move to Las Vegas in 2028.
“I think the playoffs last year gives us great momentum as we go into 2025,’’ Manfred said. “Believe me, nobody was happier than I was that we had an LA-New York World Series, but it was not just the World Series. The fact of the matter is that we had a great series earlier in the playoffs, great individual games, a really interesting mix of teams in the postseason.
“And we continue to attract the best players in the world to play Major League Baseball.’
It’s just that most of those players wind up playing for the Dodgers, who can afford anyone they desire, aided by a 25-year, $8.35 billion TV deal, paying them $300 million more annually than some small-market teams.
“Look, I don’t know that the next CBA is really the way to address the media issue,’’ Manfred said. “I think that the way to address the media issue over the long haul is really in our next national negotiations after the 2028 season. And I do think baseball needs to alter its approach in advance of those negotiations.
“I think we need more central control over all of our rights, whether they’re traditionally done, it’s national or local, and we should be making an effort to make our product more national.’’
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