Quote:IMO, part of baseball's steady decline in popularity has to do with big market teams constantly owning the league and having all the success. WHen markets like Pittsburgh & Kansas City have to go several decades between legit world series chances, and the NY & Boston markets have that basically every year, then you have a problem with your sport.
If football continues the way its going, it will be following in baseball's footsteps.
The NFL, despite measures put in to help create a level playing field, big market teams still rule...and don't let it fool you - the NFL wants it this way....its no "coincidence" that the Jaguars never get good air time by the networks and coverage - they save that for the big market moneymaking teams.
There's no real "parity".
The only reason small markets like Pittsburgh and Green Bay are tolerated/ endorsed even is because those teams have built up such a following. If those markets had teams like the Jags without the "history" and fanfare,,,,they'd be getting similar treatment, too.
Its all corrupt. All about greedy moneeeeeeeey, and pulling the wool over the peoples eyes to give the guise of "parity" when there really is none.
The NFL at one time - under the Rozelle leadership and many of the old-guard owners DID care about parity because they saw the bigger picture and parity helped elevate the sport to the height it has reached.....but now, all the new-guard cares about is the short sighted bottom line and big markets. The NFL will follow the same path as baseball in time if this continues, mark my words.
100% agree with your thought on MLB. The lack of a salary cap and a poor revenue sharing system kills a lot of smaller market teams chances of landing star players other than growing one through the farm system and hoping they sign a team friendly deal.
I'm a Brewers fan and I've seen CC Sabathia, Prince Fielder, and Zack Greinke leave in free agency over the past several years because they were going to the highest bidder and we simply couldn't compete with the $$$ markets like New York and Los Angeles can throw at players. It wasn't that our owner was cheap, but rather we operate in the red when the total salaries reach $100 million.
For reference, the Dodgers receive $280 million each year from their local TV contract and the Yankees own their TV station which nets them around $100 million and is expected to increase. Royals, Pirates, and Brewers all make less than $20 million per year and it would take them 14 years to match the revenue that the Dodgers receive in a single season.
Signing big name players obviously doesn't guarantee anyone a championship, but it allows for larger markets to easily outbid smaller markets and a big money free agent bust won't cripple Los Angeles when it could kill a team like Kansas City for a significant amount of time.
