The St. Louis Cardinals franchise is certainly worth more than the Reid franchise.
As a result, the economic downturn effects more dollars in the Redbirds’ portfolio than the Reids’.
But, there has not been a cataclysmic impact on the Reid franchise (although I haven’t checked the mail today, you know how that is) and I doubt the Cardinals are seriously considering bankruptcy either,
In other words, I’m not buying this “bad economy” explanation for the Cardinals lack of activity in the free-agent market.
The word “cheap” is being thrown around, and Bill DeWitt, Cardinals chair, doesn’t think that’s fair.
Until it is proven to me otherwise, I have to go with that term. That is based on Forbes’ ranking of value for the 30 Major League Baseball teams.
According to a Forbes report released on April 16, 2008 based on revenues and operating expenses for the 2007 season, the Cardinals ranked ninth with a value of $484 million. The New York Yankees were the only team worth more than $1 billion, at $1.3B.
Rounding out the Top five were the N.Y. Mets ($824M), Boston Red Sox ($816M), L.A. Dodgers ($694M) and Chicago Cubs ($642M)
The bottom five teams were the Florida Marlins ($256M), Tampa Bay Rays ($290M), Pittsburgh Pirates ($292M), Kansas City Royals ($301M) and Oakland A’s ($323M.)
To be fair, let’s throw out the top five and the bottom five.
Of the 20 teams remaining, the Cardinals are fourth; topped only by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ($500M), Atlanta Braves ($497M) and San Francisco Giants ($494M).
Ok, here’s where I begin to doubt the Cardinals bleeding red anywhere in the budget.
Of the Top 10 teams, only the Yankees, Dodgers and Mets had better attendance, with the Cards closing at fourth at 43,854 per game.
While a hot dogs, beers, souvenirs and soda cost less at Bush Stadium than at Yankees Stadium, Shea (which is now closed) and Dodger Stadium, these teams’ have much higher overhead when looking at expenses and (shudder) payroll.
The way I see it, the Cardinals are making a killing.
When you factor in DeWitt & Company purchased the team for $150 million from Anheuser-Busch in March 1996 and the fact also got two adjacent parking garages that the team has since sold, this team cannot cry poor.
A Sports Business Journal article in 2005 quoted DeWitt as saying that the Cards expected the first year of profit that year since the purchase after breaking even three times, experiencing “modest to moderate” losses another three years and losing more than $10 million in both 1997 and 2003.
Yet somehow, the Cardinals are ninth in value in the smallest market of the top 10 teams. They also are fourth in attendance, with loyal fans packing the stadium for almost all of the teams’ 81 home games. And how much money did the Cardinals make during the 2004 and 2006 postseasons? This includes a rain out during the 2006 World Series where fans were literally held hostage for more than four hours before the game was called. If you left the stadium, you were not allowed to return.
Without letting the world see its books, something I think every professional sports franchise that receives a penny of public money should be forced to do, we’ll never know what the Redbirds’ bottom line is.
But the idea that the economy has something to do with a lack of action by the Cards’ front office is as hard to believe as it would for the team ranked 29th in assessed value and attendance, respectively, reaching the World Series.
Oops, that would be Tampa in 2008 after being worth $290 million and drawing just 17,130 fans per game in 2007.
So I guess anything is possible. No matter how ridiculously unlikely.