Pitchers and catchers report!
Not so fast. The fields sit empty. The concession stands are boarded up. Towns like Port St. Lucie and Glendale are losing revenue.
What tragedy has occurred? Is it a new variant of Covid? Did a World War break out? No, it seems that average baseball salaries have dropped. Teams have trended to younger and less expensive players. One answer would be to pay the younger players more money.
The problem is explained below but the average fan does not care. Millionaires are fighting billionaires, and fans can’t see a game that now costs close to $100 per person when you factor in parking and some food. The sport has lost touch with the average fan.
America’s pastime has become America’s “Past” time.
The minimum salary for baseball players is now $570,500 and the players want it raised to $775,000. The average baseball salary is $4.17 million per year. Baseball’s total revenue has increased by 30% in four years while payroll has decreased by 6.4%. When the total revenue exceeds $10 billion those percentages are staggering.
In the complicated “revenue sharing” where high payroll teams pay more than low payroll teams and gate receipts are shared by all teams, a team does not increase their bottom line significantly by winning.