Sunday, April 18, 2004
New Ballparks No Magic Financial Pill
Andrew Baggarly of the Oakland Tribune doesn't buy the Selig/Schott line that the Athletics need a new ballpark to compete.
"You're the owner of a small-market team? There's your answer. Hire a smart and savvy marketing staff if the whim strikes you. Invest in scouting and player development if it makes you feel good. Print playoff tickets if you must.
"But, if you listen to Selig's rhetoric, none of those things can save a franchise. For that, you need to pour concrete, and get a bigger outpouring of public money to pay for it all."
Baggarly also points to the bottom half of the NL Central as examples of what a new ballpark can't do. The Reds have slashed their payroll by $16 million in their second year at The Great American Ballpark; the Pirates' attendance has fallen by a third in three years; and the Brewers have cut their payroll almost in half, to a major league low $27.5 million.
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Andrew Baggarly of the Oakland Tribune doesn't buy the Selig/Schott line that the Athletics need a new ballpark to compete.
"You're the owner of a small-market team? There's your answer. Hire a smart and savvy marketing staff if the whim strikes you. Invest in scouting and player development if it makes you feel good. Print playoff tickets if you must.
"But, if you listen to Selig's rhetoric, none of those things can save a franchise. For that, you need to pour concrete, and get a bigger outpouring of public money to pay for it all."
Baggarly also points to the bottom half of the NL Central as examples of what a new ballpark can't do. The Reds have slashed their payroll by $16 million in their second year at The Great American Ballpark; the Pirates' attendance has fallen by a third in three years; and the Brewers have cut their payroll almost in half, to a major league low $27.5 million.
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