I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this for a while, and I finally had a few minutes to sit down and get all of this down. I initially wanted to title this “Reflections on a Great Season,” but I realized that all of my pent up rage was really directed, as it often is, at Red Sox and Phillies fans.
Stop saying “the Yankees bought a World Series.” Period.
Haters of the evil empire that is the New York Yankees have set up a nice little catch-22 to justify the ends of every MLB season: If the Yankees don’t win, they are poorly managed, prodigal, chokers, etc., and if they win, “they bought a title.” While this might bring solace to the average Yankee hater at the end of October, it’s a pretty stupid argument.
To those who say the Yankees bought a World Series, my response is succinct: “duh.”
The Yankees are a corporation. The goal of the owners is to make money. Fortunately, for fans, the best way to make money is to win championships.
First off, salary is not directly correlated to World Series titles. There are a lot of teams that spend a lot of money. The Mets spent 145 million on payroll and won 70 games. Detroit spent 119 million to win 86 games, one fewer than the Marlins who spend just 35 million.
To say “the Yankees bought a World Series,” is always a funny statement to me, because the helplessness with which fans proclaim this sentiment implies that money grows on the highest branches, and the Yankees are the only ones who can reach. If you want to claim that the Yanks bought a title, you must first ask, “where did the money to buy the title come from?” Winning games comes down to a lot of things: talent, team chemistry, coaching, avoiding injuries, and oftentimes luck. But when it comes to making money, the Yankees are a well-oiled machine. And that well-oiled machine makes it a lot easier to go out and get the necessary talent to win these games.
The Yankees are willing to pay more for top talent, and in many cases, pay more than anyone else; there is no way around it. But there is a method to this madness, and 20 million a year for Mark Teixera and 15 million a year for Sabathia is not money that disappears after it is paid out. Those players are not just a demonstrated commitment to win; they are investments.
Having top talent puts butts in the seats, and butts in the seats leads to more operating revenue, and more operating revenue leads to more money to go out and spend on talent. That 20 million on Teixera comes back to the Yankees in many forms, and Teixera, just like all the other overpaid Yankee studs (excluding Hideki Irabu?) pay for themselves. Let me explain
The Yankees averaged just under 46, 000 in attendance every home game this year. I want to take a minute to explain how incredible this number is. This number is equal to the average attendance of the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, a team that only plays 8 home games a year in beautiful Florida weather and only plays on Sundays when no one has work. The Yankees did it with an average ticket price marginally higher than anyone else in baseball, roughly $72 per ticket. Throw in a beer and a hot dog, and the average cost per consumer per home game is $103 and change. Not only did they do it, they did it in an economic downturn. What does this number mean? (103 bucks per person, x 46,000 x 81 games) = 383 million just in operating revenue. This doesn’t include all of the extra cash brought in for the playoffs, and it doesn’t include miscellaneous revenue like cash brought in from jersey and apparel sales.
So what do these numbers mean?
Let’s compare it to a few other solid teams: Minnesota, Detroit and Florida. All were in the playoff race down to the wire and are solid ball clubs.
| Team | Wins | Payroll | Attendance | Cost Per Person | Est. Rev. (mil) | Difference
(mil) |
Payroll pct of Reven |
| Yankees | 103 | 208 | 45,918 | 103 | 383 | O | .543 |
| Marlins | 87 | 35 | 18,770 | 41 | 62 | 321 | .565 |
| Twins | 86 | 67 | 29.466 | 41 | 98 | 285 | .683 |
| Tigers | 86 | 119 | 31,693 | 47 | 120 | 263 | .991 |
You want to tell me the Yankees are reckless in their spending? Their “absurd” payroll of 208 million is LESS than Marlins’ 35 million in comparison to their revenue. And look at the Tigers! Talk about spending money they don’t’ have!
There are a lot of reasons the Yankees have this money, but the bottom line is that their spending puts butts in the seats, butts that are willing to pay more than butts at any other stadium. Fan loyalty is huge here. Despite costing twice as much to go to the games, Yankees’ fans average attendance is 2.5 times more than the Marlins, so don’t argue that the fans only go to the games because they root for a good team. The Marlins were in the pennant race down the stretch and only averaged 18,770 a game. Embarrassing for them, but that’s why you can’t afford players like Josh Beckett.
The Yanks don’t win every year, but there’s a reason they’re always in the hunt. If you want to have the best team, you’re much more likely to get there if you’ve got the best players. If you want the best players, you need to have the most loyal fans.
Game. Set. Match. Yankees. Eat it Boston and Philly.
Schneider, out.
