Quote:
Originally Posted by barrysloate
Doesn't winning make money for a team? What's the downside?
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It's a very complicated answer. Much depends upon your definition of "making money."
Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973 for $10 million. Estimates are that they are currently worth a little over $1 billion, so that's pretty good money. But, many years, they are cash flow negative. That possibility scares the bejesus out of some owners.
It seems to me that you can make money by winning, and you can make money by losing big and collecting the most money from revenue sharing and luxury taxes, but somewhere in the middle is a dead zone where you don't win enough to profit but don't suck enough to collect big dollars.
This "sea of mediocrity" is where you get killed. (I've heard that term somewhere before...)
But trying to win has it's risks. Spending money alone does not guarantee winning. So if your fans tolerate losing, that's the safer course.
Edited to add: The other thing to consider is that every year, only a couple of teams win enough to be successful, but lots of teams can stink it up.