Quote:
Originally Posted by scaeagles
I'm a free market kind of guy, and admittedly know SQUAT about baseball. However, when I see a guy get 22.5 million per season (that's what it is, right? Something close anyway.) I think about what that represents in terms of what he gets for his performance. Please understand I do not know baseball AT ALL and my examples below may not be realistic, and I'm really looking to find out if he's worth that money in the opinion of the baseball fans here.
22.5 million is 138,888/game (162 game season). I'm not counting post season, but perhaps I should. Let's say he has an incredible season with 200 hits, 120 RBI and 40 HRs. I presume he is being paid this much because of offensive prowess rather than being an incredible defensive outfielder.
Now lets say I could get a guy for 7 million/season, just a good a defensive outfielder who will give me 140 hits, 80 RBI, and 25 HRs. The difference is 15.5 million for 60 hits, 40 RBI, and 15 HRs (but really, the HRS don't even matter...it's the RBI I'd figure).
Is he that much of a fan draw that he's worth that in ticket sales? Do the 60 hits, 40 RBI, and 15 HRs translate into a significant amount of wins? That's only about .25 runs extra/game.
I often run similar type numbers when looking at other athletes in other sports. I am equally flabbergasted when someone like the Cardinals Kurt Warner gets 13 million for a season. Even if they play 19 games and get to the SuperBowl again (win or lose), that's 685,000 for each game! Probably 25K per completion! It is amazing to me.
I wonder how long professional sports can keep this up before they go belly up. The NBA is already starting to experience major financial issues.
That was long than I wanted it to be. Just curious what the thoughts are here about the value of athletes. Again, more power to them if they can demand and get that type of salary. I just don't get it myself, and I love sports in general.
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This is
professional Baseball It's not so much about bats on ball as it is butts in seats.
138,000 per game, with an
average seat price of $29.66 means that if Manny brings in an extra 4,000 fans per game (or significantly less fans if you include food and trinket sales) he has more than paid for himself. Plus the Dodgers get a percentage from away games also. If Manny brings in extra people on the road (and you know he will) then that amount also goes up.
I know that back in the day, Fernando Valenzuela regularly brought in an extra 8,000 or more every time he pitched.