A-Rod and Santana offers paid for with their cash. Do you still like offers?
The New York Yankees and New York Mets signed Alex Rodriguez and Johan Santana this offseason, respectively, to big contracts that will make each superstar rich beyond any of our wildest dreams. The reality is the New York Yankees and New York Mets won’t make them rich, you will! Do you still like the treatment of your team?
It’s not just about the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. Any of your favorite baseball teams pay for high priced baseball talent, this story is about your team and the effect of these huge salaries on your wallet.
Reading about the contract of Johan Santana, Alex Rodriguez or any other big-money ballplayer is superficially saying, “Great, my team made a great move. At least it’s not my money.” Wow, not so fast. The reality is that it is your money. How? Every time you pay for a ticket to the game where the price has increased, you help pay his wages. Every time you take a sip from the beer mug in the game where the price has gone up, you help pay your wages. Every time you bite into the hot dog in the game where the prices have increased, you help pay his wages.
Is it fair that a star baseball player or athlete makes exponentially more money than a teacher, a repairman, or anyone else who helps us live our lives more immediately? Fair, my friends, has nothing to do with it. Economics 101-The law of supply and demand. The fair value of something is the exact amount someone is willing to pay for it.
Alex Rodriguez and Johan Santana are simply playing the system for what it’s worth, getting as much money from the New York Yankees and New York Mets as their agents can squeeze out.
Actually, we would do the same, whether we openly admit it or not. When we review our reviews at work, we seek to improve our status, and rightly so. We work hard, we are loyal and we have few opportunities to get any kind of reward.
MLB, its owners, its players and its machinery seek one thing and one thing only above all else. That is, to make money for himself and his players. How do you do this? Getting money from their fans.
So the New York Yankees signed Alex Rodriguez to a big long-term contract. He had better believe that the prices of his tickets, beer, hot dogs, gear, and cable bill are heading north accordingly. So, in the end, it’s you who pays Alex Rodriguez, or Johan Santana, or whatever big-ticket star plays in your favorite stadium.
As a New York Yankees fan, New York Mets fan, Los Angeles Dodgers fan or wherever, you want your team to win. To win, you have to pay high-priced players. The question is whether you would mind paying more for a better product.
When you buy a television, you expect to pay more for a better brand than Joe Schmo’s brand of televisions. We don’t think of it in those terms, but that’s how it is when you, the fan, spend money to be a part of sports. Do you want to follow a competitive team? You’ll then shell out the money, out of your own pocket, to compensate your favorite team in exchange for a better product. Fair? The fair has nothing to do with it… it never does.
MLB fans have the choice and the power to put the brakes on high-priced contracts like Alex Rodriguez and Johan Santana. However, the reality is stark for true fans. The answer is to stop paying.
The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and every other MLB team pay attention to one thing and one thing only: how much money is coming in.
Stop following the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Boston Red Sox with your wallet, and there will be less to pay players. The less players pay, the less salaries they will be. Fewer butts in seats, ticket prices will be lower. Offer and demand.
The reality, however, is that MLB knows this will never happen. In the wake of strikes, steroid scandals and more, MLB still enjoys record attendance across the United States. As an MLB fan, you can’t have it all. If you want to follow the MLB, be prepared to put down the cash. The closer you want to follow, the more money you will need.
Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana and the others don’t care how much you have to pay. They care about how much they can earn during a limited MLB career. He’s a Catch-22, but the fans will still come, they’ll still pay, they’ll still harbor some resentment.
MLB fans: The reality is that this is the going rate for access to the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, or any team you follow. You can not have everything. You can have your favorite team, at a competitive level that is expensive, but in the end it will be your money that finances the winner, creating the competitive atmosphere that you can then follow. It’s worth it? Only you can decide for yourself. So far, the answer among the MLB faithful is a resounding yes.