Home › The Cardinal Nation Forums › Open Forum › Player Payroll/Budget
- This topic has 181 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 8 months ago by gscottar.
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October 28, 2020 at 5:24 pm #145937
Well this a real shot across the bow. The Cardinals are making it very clear to everyone that they are extremely serious about cutting costs. Wow.
October 28, 2020 at 5:28 pm #145941Yikes. Expect an extremely lean year. Hopefully fans get a chance to show their view of Dewallet’s cheapness next spring.
October 28, 2020 at 5:31 pm #145942C27 said:
A bit surprising given the lack of infield depth. But this could be great news for SOsa.
Or even more likely, LHH Max Schrock.
October 28, 2020 at 5:59 pm #145949If Schrock is the plan to get any serious playing time…well, ever…this team is gonna be picking in the top 10 of the draft next year, guaranteed.
October 28, 2020 at 6:06 pm #145950Looks like we are headed back to the 70’s. Keep just enough talent to keep the fans interest. The defensive problems were addressed and now about to revert back.
October 28, 2020 at 8:12 pm #145983If you are going to get rid of Wong you might as well gut the team.
October 28, 2020 at 8:42 pm #1460023.5 million fans = $300 million? High? Low?
October 28, 2020 at 8:53 pm #146008Euro, the average ticket cost was a bit over 35 dollars for St Louis last year, so it would be around $125M at minimum, you’d think.
October 28, 2020 at 9:07 pm #146015Looking around MLB at the free agent class, will anyone get the Qualifying Offer this winter? Only Bauer, Realmuto and Springer seem to be possibilities at this point.
October 28, 2020 at 10:10 pm #146041stlcard25, I was accounting for more than ticket prices, i.e., parking, beer, hot dogs, popcorn, parking, caps, jerseys, Ballpark Village, etc.
October 28, 2020 at 10:14 pm #146043Euro, I know. I was only adding that info to say that it’s gotta be at least $125M. I would think concessions and parking (unless the team gets none of that) would probably add another half again to that number at least, so close to $200M would be my guess.
October 28, 2020 at 10:25 pm #146047Mo says we are poorer than other teams because we are so dependent on gate receipts. I guess that $1 billion TV deal doesn’t count.
October 28, 2020 at 10:49 pm #146053It will be interesting to see how other teams handle this apparent apocalyptic off-season. Is everyone going to slash payroll? Will the Cubs non-tender Almora? Or Schwarber? Or Bryant? I guess we will find out who really has the cash and who doesn’t.
October 28, 2020 at 11:27 pm #146059gscottar said:
Mo says we are poorer than other teams because we are so dependent on gate receipts. I guess that $1 billion TV deal doesn’t count.
The Cardinals have consistently said their gate receipts are a higher percentage of their total revenues than most other teams. (Well over 50% compared to about 40% average if my memory serves me correctly.) I have no reason to doubt that. However, does that have to translate to a lower payroll? I don’t know.
Every team has a TV deal. I am not going to look them all up right now, but I bet there are many bigger (in bigger markets) than the Cardinals’.
I am not giving the team a pass, but the revenue mix assertion seems credible.
October 28, 2020 at 11:32 pm #146062I am not giving the team a pass, but the revenue mix assertion seems credible.
Cards sell a lot of tickets. Not hard to understand.
October 29, 2020 at 8:52 am #146091Cards sell a lot of tickets. Not hard to understand.
Fox Sports Midwest annually has one of the highest ratings for MLB regional networks. That is easy to understand.
October 29, 2020 at 11:34 am #146150Ratings are percentage of potential viewers. Think of it as how the pie is split up. The size of the market determines how big the pie is. The Cardinals are in the bottom third of market sizes. The bigger the piece of the bigger pie, the higher ad rates can be.
But, that likely determines how much profit or not Sinclair makes. Unless there is a sliding scale in the contract, the Cardinals may be getting a flat payment from Sinclair each year. (I do not know this to be fact. It is just an educated guess.)
To the main point, I doubt the Cardinals are making considerably more from their TV deal than their competition. If that is true, it is may not be a huge variable in how much they can pay players. It feels more like a constant, which probably can be counted upon to help fund some base level of expense, including player salary perhaps. But even that changes when 162 games are not played. A lot of variables are in play.
October 29, 2020 at 1:04 pm #146167Fox Sports Midwest annually has one of the highest ratings for MLB regional networks. That is easy to understand.
Which has nothing to do with your original criticism of Mo for saying the Cards suffer more than most other teams by losing gate revenue. Mo and BDW are easy targets for lots of criticism lately (and I’ve done it) but Mo’s statement ain’t one of them. Billionaires don’t buy and operate major league franchises to become millionaires.
And as for TV revenues, I suppose they go way down too if games aren’t broadcast like 2020 and maybe in the future.
October 29, 2020 at 2:13 pm #146190Which has nothing to do with your original criticism of Mo for saying the Cards suffer more than most other teams by losing gate revenue.
My point is that gate revenue isn’t all of their revenue. They seem to have a healthy regional tv contract. The article below is from five years ago when the deal was hatched.
And as for TV revenues, I suppose they go way down too if games aren’t broadcast like 2020 and maybe in the future.
That could be the case. We really don’t know the specifics.
October 29, 2020 at 3:14 pm #146205My point is that gate revenue isn’t all of their revenue.
I understand, but in fairness to Mo, he didn’t suggest that it was. That was not his point. Regardless of where they come from, the losses are enormous. But please don’t label me as a Mo apologist. 😉
That could be the case. We really don’t know the specifics.
We pretty much do, but I guess it depends on what specifics you want. Passan had reported that MLB was losing a pro rata share of its $2.5 billion in local/regional TV revenue. With just 60 games, that’s well over a billion. So if you carry that further and say the Cards’ TV contract brings more revenue than other teams, then they lost more than those teams this season.
National TV didn’t lose as much due to the larger number of playoff games making up most of the difference. But that loss is shared equally by all teams.
October 29, 2020 at 3:35 pm #146209Duquette did not say which 4-5 teams will be buyers.
Maybe one of our resident payroll gurus could share what the 2021 Cards might look like with a 20-30% payroll cut, taking Wong out and adding Yadi and Waino back in…
The #STLCards are not alone in cutting payroll. Former MLB GM @Jim_Duquette tells #RivsAndBK there might only be 4-5 teams looking to really spend this offseason, with the rest of the league hoping to cut 20-30% off of their payroll.
PODCAST: https://t.co/6KGYoaj1fk pic.twitter.com/OtxbKjy63O
— 101 ESPN St. Louis (@101espn) October 29, 2020
October 29, 2020 at 3:44 pm #146211A 25% cut would put the Cardinal payroll at about $125 million which is basically where it is right now after counting the league minimum guys and the arbitration guys.
The only way to bring Yadi and Waino back with a 25% cut would be to start non-tendering players and find other teams to take on some of our big contracts. (Carp, Fowler, Miller, CMart, Mikolas). I didn’t include Goldy because I am assuming they would keep him.
Anyway good luck making that budget work.
October 29, 2020 at 3:53 pm #146214Thanks, gscottar. That would suggest that either the Cardinals cut is less than 25% or more blood-letting is planned. Bill DeWitt III clearly said the other day they can fit the two in. Hard to see how that works, though.
October 29, 2020 at 4:53 pm #146216Anyway good luck making that budget work.
Just forget about expectations for 2021. That’s even if COVID19 disappears today. It might get doubly more painful if things continue. I saw where the Boston Marathon has already been postponed from April 2021 to perhaps the Fall.
As for the players’ budget, I’m pretty sure Pugs and Rat will sign up on the cheap.
October 30, 2020 at 8:53 am #146261Well it is hard to predict what attendance is going to look like because instead of a nation wide policy we have 50 different state wide policies or in some instances each municipality has their own policy. While some parts of the country and Canada are in lockdown others aren’t. There is going to be a college football game tomorrow night in College Station, TX between Arkansas and Texas A&M. From what I have read they are expecting almost 60,000 fans in attendance. That would fill up most MLB stadiums wouldn’t it?
I am not being political. I am just saying this is what MLB has to deal with. Some MLB teams may be allowed to open up their seats and others won’t, which isn’t fair. Revenue streams could fluctuate wildly.
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