10
2011
Bienvenue, Montreal?
An article by Former Writers
Meet the Debts. How close is this team to becoming another ‘Montreal’?
For more than two years, the Mets have said that were it not for the Madoff lawsuit, everything would have been fine financially for the team. However this story in the New York Times disputes that after furthering their own investigation into this mess:
When the owners of the Mets said in late January that they would seek buyers for up to 25 percent of the club, they cited “the air of uncertainty” created by the $1 billion lawsuit brought by Irving H. Picard, the trustee representing the victims of Bernard L. Madoff’sPonzi scheme.
But a look at the team’s financial condition — gleaned from public financial documents and numerous interviews — suggests the team may well have needed the proceeds from selling part of the team regardless of the suit.
The article concludes that the team was already battling significantly lower revenues than they projected from their new park, Citi Field. Couple that with a bad economy, declining ticket sales, no financial muscle to improve a team that finished in 4th place two straight seasons and you get the picture.
We now know that the Mets were actually seeking investors behind closed doors long before Madoff was arrested.
We also know that the Wilpons are not getting any more money from Bud Selig or MLB. They owe apparently a small fortune or a big one – makes no difference, I guess. However, we are hearing about groups forming who are ready to become owners of this team – or part owners.
A new GM is in charge, Sandy Alderson who takes no prisoners, and never seems to change his mind over any decision. He listens more than he speaks – a marvelous trait.
Our new Manager – Terry Collins – is on the job every day and on top of what he has to do. He speaks with every member of the team each day and is totally up to date with what is going on with the team.
Both of these men seem to be able to operate the team just fine.
Now from another point of view – the players’. How would you like to wonder about your professional future? Will the team still be intact months from now? Will you be able to be paid? How about your future? A baseball team skews young – many are in their twenties and just starting out in the world of professional sports. Sure the contract sounded great, but now I’ll bet they are checking to see if their salary has been deposited as it should be.
I believe these questions are on the minds of a lot of Mets fans – even those of us who have been here since the beginning have never had to read about our team in the Wall Street Journal before or have Mario Cuomo serve as a mediator in Federal Court in a baseball matter.
Are better days coming?
We can only hope.
About the Author: Former Writers
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“Now from another point of view – the players’. How would you like to wonder about your professional future? Will the team still be intact months from now? Will you be able to be paid? How about your future? A baseball team skews young – many are in their twenties and just starting out in the world of professional sports. Sure the contract sounded great, but now I’ll bet they are checking to see if their salary has been deposited as it should be.”
Annie I don’t know why you keep talking about the players as if they are going to be so affected by some financial hurdles because NO ONE GOES TO SEE TEM PLAY…
They aren’t worried and you know why?
They know that the hot dog vendor, the Usher, the guy who takes your ticket, the person who sells you souvenirs, the security guard who keeps you safe and a dozen or so executive secretaries are going to be the FIRST ONES to feel any pain from OUR lack of support.
The players are all under contract and nothing can be taken away from them unless the team goes into bankruptcy and if that happens the players will all find jobs that pay as much or more on other teams and their life will move on without issue.
So if we REALLY are concerned about the state of the team and the player’s psyche regarding their salary I suggest we all go and buy some tickets so those revenue projections that did not get met will BE MET this year and not only will the players have nothing to worry about but their .220 Batting average all the folks like you and me whose checks are signed by Wilpon can keep their jobs as well!
I know this post is all about the anti wilpon sentiment and as the article clearly states what I have been saying for quite some time, that the Madoff affair is not the major problem with the team it is the LACK OF ATTENDANCE that caused those loans and lack of signings everyone has complained about and if we are REALLY and TRULY concerned over the finances or upset that those finances are not there then maybe we should all buy some mirrors, and look for the person DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for the financial mess!
So in closing it’s nice to know that a Millionaire is facing some of the same uncertainty as most mortal working stiff face on a daily and weekly basis!
So glad someone is worried about and posts about how awful it might be for a guy (who made over 10 Mil last year) to face the fact he might only get an 8 Million dollar check this year because no one came out to see him play!
But if you really think this is so traumatic for them why aren’t we a little more worried about the hot dog vendor, the Usher, the guy who takes your ticket, the person who sells you souvenirs, and the security guard who keeps you safe, because even if the Wilpons have enough money to pay them all after the Players get their millions they will STILL likely all get pink slips because you can’t sell hotdogs or souvenirs to seats, Can’t see people who are watching at home and if there are no tickets sold there is no reason to hire someone to take those unsold tickets and no one will be there for the security guard to protect!
Those people are probably all about to lose their jobs ANYWAY in an effort to save as much money as possible top pay off those million dollar babies who no one goes to see!
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who is the Fan that doesn’t buy tickets and will cause the team to fall!
Why it’s us My dear Annie!
We are the ones who demand great product but are not willing to pay to get it or keep it!
We only go to see Winners! Well thats the attitude that is making all those people I mentioned LOSERS!
And we are the the ones at fault!
Not the Wilpons, Not Bernie Madoff and not anyone other than that person in the Mirror!
Really Metsie… A compnay provides a horrible produxt and you want the consumer to pay more money to it? Really!!!! did you advocate buying Chrysler’s and GMs because an American janitor needed to keep his job? did you advocate and demand to buy only UIS steel becasue Americans needed the jobs that were lost. You don’t support bad companies when there are good ones providing higher quality products do you? You don’t buy a 500 dollar pair of shoes when you can get just as good for 75 bucks don’t you? But when it comes to the Mets we need to spend our bucks because you suddenly feel sorry for the poor bloke working part time in the ball park! You preach baloney. Those vendors wander to whatever ballpark they can make a buck in. The guy working the stadium will work whatever place that same entertainment dollar goes to. Suppoerting the Wilpons and rewarding horrible management is the worst thing a consumer can do. You think you get your money’s worht go.. If I don’t keep your bull out of my life and don’t tell me to go because the hot dog guy needs the job. Give him a bigger tip next time, if you’ve ever given him one.
Yep Harry just the way the fans supported Boston for a Century and the Yanks got supported over the 20 some odd years before Stienbrenner bought the team and teams like the Cubs sell out despite never winning a WS
How the fans showed up to games in Atlanta despite all the times they collapsed or choked until 1995 And the Phillie fans did all those years before 1983 and continue to support them despite all the times they choked before 2008!
If you are worried about how much money they have to spend there is only one person to blame!
And it isn’t the guy who SPENT IT hoping you would show up!
It is the one who said he would show up if they went and got a big FA and then backed out before the contract ran out because decided to find his entertainment somewhere else!
i don’t know how horrible a product is if people dedicate 10% of their free time on an internet site devoted to it.
What? What’s your problem? The Wilpon’s stated way back in December during their press conference announcing the termination of Omar that the team is financially sound! Hell, the Wilpon’s went on to state that Omar had “no” financial restrictions. Heck, Fred Wilpon stated himself that the Mets had not been harmed by this Maddoff mess. Are you saying Wilpon is a liar?
I mean really, we have the next Jonny Bench in Josh Thole and the next Joe Morgan in Daniel Murphy. Our new GM has an IQ of “351″ I mean really, what are you complaining about?
Everything is great!
Lets Go Mets!
smh
Hello Mr. North Jersey, we’ve had some nice conversations back when they used to have the conversation chat here. Quick question, but what is “smh”?
I mean really, we have the next Jonny Bench in Josh Thole and the next Joe Morgan in Daniel Murphy.
Who is saying this? I haven’t heard a member of the FO, a journalist, a blogger or even a random COMMENTER say anything along the lines of these guys being stars, and yesterday you were claiming the Mets were touting Harris and Hairston as “stars.” There are plenty of Mets-related things to complain about, no need to completely fabricate new ones.
really annie, montreal?
a franchise that produced great players but no one ever came out to see them?
a franchise that had to leave the city due to the city not having any interst in watching baseball?
you think the mets share a similarity?
smh
I know how hard it is to connect the dots sometimes, but what flew over your head like the space shuttle was your unrealization on the potential similarity of the Mets being taken over and run by MLB. A very real possibility. I can link you to that era in Montreal/Washington baseball if you like, but it’s not hard to find if you wish to learn more about it. Then you would understand her point with perfect clarity.
And if that concerns you here is the Hotline to call to get it fixed.
718-507-TIXX
Young man, I was a season ticket holder for 31 years. I was even a VIP member of the Diamond Club and was an invited guest to several homecomming dinners back when the team was more appreciative of their paying customers. Please reserve your snark for those who haven’t invested a tiny fortune in the Mets over the years.
KEY WORD in your Statement…
WAS!
“Young man, I WAS a season ticket holder for 31 years.”
And for 31 years there was no issue about the budget or the spending!
I’m not saying you HAVE to buy tickets but if your worried about the team going under, getting moved or dissolved then I think you need to know the reasons for that possibly happening.
The reason I ceased being a ticket holder in 2004 is because age and bad health kept me from my annual enjoyment of following my team at every homestand. Now at 69 years od I follow them as best I can on my old 13 inch color TV in my bedroom. Sometimes I watch them on my laptop computer which was gifted to me by my daughter three Christmas’ ago. It gave me a new way to follow the team and it led me to this wonderful site.
See if you can get your daughter to pony up for a new TV next! these days, you can get a nice 32″ flat panel for about $300, and it will make a world of difference in seeing the game!
Bill I understand and there are plenty here who have damn good excuses for NOT buying tickets.
But to blame someone other than OURSELVES for the financial problems of this team is pure and simple SCAPEGOATING!
And while you have a reasonable reason for not being able to attend others who are here crying about the lack of Free Agent spending or complaining that the Wilpons are Evil Incarnate and to blame for the lack of revenues generated by this team is just their way of EXCUSING themselves for making demands on a business that they don’t support!
If your favorite Musician went out on a tour and nobody showed up well don’t expect him to be making albums anytime soon because all of the money he has will be going towards paying the debt of running that tour no one showed up to.
This is what is the situation with the Mets.
Even if Madoff was a legitimate operation this problem would be here because by all accounts the Wilpons MADE money on Madoff and are STILL having problems paying the NY Met Accounts Payable!
And the reason has to do with lack of attendance nothing else.
And until we start living in a dictatorship there is no way for the Wilpons nor ANY potential owner to force us to go!
And if they can’t and then can’t pay the bills the persons to blame will be US!
Do you have a good reason for not going? I would say yes!
But then again you are not the one posting blog articles on how awful the Wilpons are for not making enough money to pay the bills of a 140 Mil franchise WE FANS are not going to see!!
I didn’t think it was such a hard connection to make – after all our old buddy Omar was there, made friends with Pedro Martinez there and ultimately brought him to the Mets. (Frankly, I wish both Pedro and Omar were still available.)
The obvious is always hardest to see by those who wish only to rebuke.
I guess I never connected the dots like you suggested cause I do not think there ever will be a very real possibility that the Mets will ever be run by MLB.
If that is what the point was then I can see why I didn’t see it.
The Expos were run by MLB in an attempt to eventually contract them along with another team I believe. The Mets again are in no where near such a scenario.
I can also link you to that era in Montreal/Washington baseball if you like, but it’s not hard to find if you wish to learn more about it.
You may think the Mets being run by MLB is a real possibility but again I don’t and if that was Annie’s point then she should of stated why cause I sure have yet to see anything to suggest the reality of MLB running the team.
As for the connection well it’s a much different situation.
Montreal was a city that was not interested in Baseball. Hockey is the national sport in Canada.
No one wanted to buy the team there so MLB had to take it over because they wanted to keep a team that Canadian market in play.
They tried to sell it then entire time and finally decided that the only way they could sell it would be to allow the buyers to move the team.
It’s a very different story for the Mets.
First of plenty of people have interest in buying it and the only question is HOW MUCH of it.
If they buy CONTROL then they might also want to move it to someplace where they don’t have to compete with the Yankees which would mean there will no longer BE a NY Mets team to go see so everyone will have their cake and eat it too.
You won’t have to worry about what they spend or buying tickets unless of course they happen to move to your city!
So I say everyone has TWO choices here if they want the Wilpons gone and their wishes granted…
Go buy tickets so someone actually wants to buy the team and keep it here because it CAN generate revenue
Or don’t go and risk the chance that you won’t ever get to see the NY Mets win a WS ever again because they move to Toledo and change their name to the Mudhens which would be appropriate since their installed fanbase is better at slinging mud at them than buying tickets to support them!
MNJ – This isn’t really directed at you just seemed like the best place to reply to the others who seem so concerned about stuff they refuse to do what it takes to solve.
Annie it is with a somber spirit that I have to agree with you. I too have been a Mets fan since 1960 when the dream we would have National League baseball in NY again became a reality and a work in progress. What would Casey Stengel, William Shea and Joan Payson have thought if they had lived to see such appaling management and stewardship of those loaveable losers?
Well Bill I don’t know how you could have been a met fan since 1960 considering they didn’t become a team until 1962 but I’m sure you just meant the 60′s
As far as the Paysons are concerned they already saw it when they hired Grant to be the GM.
I find it odd that people say they love Wright, Reyes, Pagan, Beltran and wanted us to get Cliff Lee but don’t seem to love them enough to buy the tickets needed to keep tem and get all new favorites!
The only similarities to us and Montreal is the fact that Both teams died because no one went to the games.
Montreal was Hockey country and with us it is organized ticket boycotts and refusal of people to show up despite us having one of the highest payrolls in baseball because we asked them to!
No I meant 1960 when William Shea’s dream became realized and the Continental League was disbanded after MLB caved and authorized the formation of a new New York team in the NL.
They did not hire Grant he was already next in line. He became GM because Joan Payson passed away and her daughter who wound up with control of the team asked Grant to step in as next in line under Payson and he was a close friend of the family since they served together on the board of directors of the NY Giants baseball team. Linda would always say he was like an uncle to her. He was already on the board of the Mets when that happened.
Youthfulness is wasted on the young.
Just saw Billy Joel: Live at Shea Stadium last night on PBS. Wonderful of course the Stadium was packed full and I could remember every word of every song played there. That’s the difference between our music and the noise they call music these days.
Noise? smh
You know, its kind of hypocritical to tell us to respect you when you say things like that.
By the way, even Billy Joel admits he can’t sing. And I’ve been a fan of his for most of my life.
That’s the difference between our music and the noise they call music these days.
Yikes…you do realize people have said that about LITERALLY every genre of music since they started to categorize music.
Jazz was vagabond music, until it was considered a high art.
Sinatra was a thug, until he was the height of class.
Rock n Roll was a godless wash of idiotic noise until it became “America’s music.”
Let Andy Rooney handle the “times ain’t like they usedta be” schtick.
Said the same things about bethoven and Mozart too!
And let me tell you the things some heavy metal bands are playing these days is a lot closer to what Bethoven wrote than anything done by Les Paul or Chuck Berry!
And certainly closer than anything written in the 60′s!
Since there is no “like” function on the website, I just wanted to say:
Like.
LOL
There’s a lot of fantastic young bands out there and to say there’s no good music today is flat out wrong…and I make my living off of classic rock. If you watch Palladia TV they show a lot of Rock Festivals from Europe from this last summer showcasing so many of today’s great bands like Vampire Weekend, Enter Shikari, LCD Sound System, We Are Scientists, The XX, My Chemical Romance, Arcade Fire, MGMT, The Strokes (not that new) I could go on and on and some of them like Enter Shikari and incredibly tight/energetic live performers. And I’m not even getting into the more popular culture performers like Katy Perry, Pink, Lady Gaga, who i’m not the biggest fans of but are tremendous live performers.
I equate today’s music to maybe the equivalent of early 60s pop but with the sound of early to mid 90s – which by the way is one of the most under rated musical eras of all time giving rise to bands like Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Goo Goo Dolls, Pearl Jam, SilverChair, School Of Fish, The Flaming Lips, Soul Asylum. Some lasting more than others. One hit wonders or not the writing of these bands captured the essence of that era much like the writing of the new bands is capturing the essence of these times.
Alls I can say is some of you are missing out on a lot of legendary music. Legendary did not end with the 60s & 70s.
But whats thier OBP dude?
Sorry couldn’t resist!
LOL!
No laughing matter. The lead singer from MGMT has great plate discipline.
Yeah but it’s his backstage dicipline that will determine his longevity! LOL
HAHAHAHAHAHA well played.
William – most of my Mets memories are from that era, too and I guess the only person from that era is Ralph Kiner, now – remember Kiner’s Korner? Seriously, the last good stuff I remember is from the 1980′s with Doc and Daryl, and Davey Johnson et.al. I was pleased when Keith and Ronny joined SNY to do color commentary – they are both straight shooters and will speak the truth – sometimes good/sometimes bad.
Those were the good old days. It was a different time back then, young fans like us loved to hear from the old fans, but today young fans seem to think they know it all and would rather kick nostalgia and the golden era of baseball to the curb.
I remember getting my first color TV seeing Lindsey Nelson’s Jacket in color for the first time and going blind!
Why is Montreal the example you went for and not Texas?
Because Tim McCarver was broadcasting those games and we could receive them here in CT. (And because he sent me an autographed copy of his scorecard)
Fair enough. We’re all allowed a little personal bias for nostalgia’s sake.
But Texas is a much better comparison.
‘Will the team still be intact months from now?’
Overkill, IMO. There is no way MLB is going to allow a team in NY to disappear.
Overkill to the 2nd power.
THIS – “There is no way MLB is going to allow a team in NY to disappear.” Donal stated above that TX may be a better comparison and it is (though outside of their playoff run – are the Rangers all that popular in TX? This is a serious question – everyone thinks they are filler till the Cowboys return each season). Selig especially hated Montreal and thought they were a waste. They were not contracted due to MLB law set forth during his tenure, but were moved. The Sterling ownership group hopefully (please? pretty please?) might go away but the Mets aren’t going anywhere. But to answer your last question Annie – yes, better days are coming…it’s called “Opening Day” (and beyond!)
Yes correct the CBA that was agreed to in Aug 2002 strictly forbid any talk of contraction until it expired which would of been in 2006.
Even before that though The Twins fought and won against contraction in court when MLB was forced to let the twins honor their contract to play at the stadium for the 2002 season.
At the time that the twins won MLB said they would seek contraction in 2003 but of course the cba signed in Aug 2002 put an end to that.
I still talk about how Jesse The Governor Ventura called Selig out on his preferential treatment with Milwaukee (I’m pretty certain it was still in his family then) and they drew about the same amount that the Twins did. I kind of dig that MN has become a respectable profitable franchise in that time, when barely 10 years ago, Selig was like – meh, whatever. Montreal was in doldrums since the strike ended, I would gather. Oh and btw, I was researching some stuff on Selig a couple of days ago – that CBA ends if I’m not mistaken right before HIS contract is up (which he plans retirement)
Yes, you’re right of course. Two New York teams named the Giants and Dodgers were not allowed to disappear by MLB. LOL
Off topic but, until this post I had no idea how many readers here were so young and without a strong foundation in baseball’s roots in New York. This has been a great comment thread for me this morning. Annie, keep posting along with your other knowledgeable colleagues on this site which is the best Mets site by far and because they at times hearken to the days of baseball when it was at its best.
The fact that you can even think that what happened in 1957 is reason why it could happen again says all that needs to be said.
Wow…
BTW Mr NJ – you just made me remember Rosalind Wyman’s quote at the end of Ghosts of Flatbush (superb HBO documentary on Brooklyn Dodgers and the set up to them leaving Brooklyn for LA) how she said “That had to have been the dumbest move in the history of municipalities! To lose TWO baseball teams?” I can’t verify but MLB had less to do with the decision (they may have encouraged it for western expansion, as far as I know) but had more to do with NYC not giving a crap. In fact, there has been arguments that losing those teams set the wheels in motion for the fiscal crisis in the 1970s – there’s more at stake now. Not sure why your response made me think of that, maybe I just remembered it now (lol)
Whatever made you think of it I am glad you did cause now you peaked my curiosity o find this HBO documentary about the Ghosts of Flatbush.
Crossing fingers it’s on Netflix.
OMG! I cannot find it anywhere – I used to have it DVR’d on a machine that kicked the bucket
. I no longer have HBO, I’ve been thinking of activating it just to see when this documentary is back on! (if you can find it on Netflix def let me know)
Netflix doesn’t have it.
I’ll keep an eye out for it.
If you don’t find that try to find the baseball in NY on PBS.
It contains a lot of the history of why the teams moved and the fans reaction to it.
But it mostly talks about how the fans of one NY team literally hated fans from other teams! LOL
I saw the HBO series. It was fantastic, and I wasn’t even born when they moved, and had (have) no interest at all in Brooklyn!
It’s funny how we’ve gone on this tangent. Peter Golenbock wrote an oral history on both the Bums and Mets, but he told me that no one wants a history on the NYG’s. Funny – I know about a hundred geeks who would LOVE something like that…(I’m interested in both teams, any
) – and Metsie, in that HBO documentary, Duke Snider talks about how he never cared much for Halloween b/c their colors (black and orange) reminded him too much of the Giants! lol
Yep it was a good one! I did see it it aired about two months ago if I’m not mistaken.
It may come back HBO usually re-runs on a 4 month cycle.
And with baseball around the corner My guess is it might even be back sooner than that to coincide with Baseball season opening.
Has the world changed much since then, or does it still base most decisions on profit and the bottom line? Do you understand what it means when a team is operating at a $850 million dollar deficit,and what the ramifications are of a junk bond rating on a new stadium built 98% on debt? Then take those same terms and use them to find out why the New York Giants had to flee to California.
With all due respect Shamsky but there is no comparison.
The NYG’s were going to leave anyway – Polo Grounds was dilapidated, not drawing attendance, and the Dodgers and Yankees outdrew them in the city. O’Malley left for pure profit, not because the Dodgers themselves were having $$ problems. Told Stoneham think further west when he considered Milwaukee or Minneapolis (forget which city – maybe either) since he needed a partner. MLB (plus the city) would have to be smoking some serious crack for that to happen again.
C’mon Shamsky…the comparison isn’t even close! (though I have spent lots of time reading on those two teams – wondering what it must have been like back then – but things were different, MUCH different back then). The owners of those teams had no incentive to stay in NY (esp Horace Stoneham, Walter O’Malley was at least profitable). Western expansion was new and O’Malley (and to a lesser extent Stoneham) helped trailblaze the way for that. MLB *may* have been complicit in not allowing them to move but it had more to do with the owners wanting to make more money and Robert Moses insisting upon the Dodgers moving to Queens and not stay in Brooklyn.
This.
Does anyone really think MLB will give the O.K. for this franchise to move out of NY, under new owners possibility, to become some small market team in say Idaho???
Absolutely. It makes perfect sense to move a team with an established fanbase in the biggest market in the world, some actual success in its history its own network and a brand new venue to somewhere that probably wouldn’t even be a top 10 market.
Absolutly!
Why wouldn’t they allow it?
The Small Market teams especially! It would reduce payrolls because they wouldn’t be able to support a 140 Mil Salary in OshKosh and that means everyone will pay less for FA players.
And when the Yankees and Boston win every WS because of that they will have the statistical evidence they need to get players to agree to a salary cap!
MLB is not going to take this team over the way they did the Expos!
MLB will never go through that again.
So they will find a buyer and give him whatever he wants as long as he has enough money to keep the franchise going to meet their Non-Ccontraction obligations under the CBA.
And I see people mentioning the Network and the Stadium.
MLB can’t force the Wilpons to sell those and they do not transfer to whoever buys the team.
So I will repeat what I have said…
If we do not support the team and they feel not enough people in NY are interested no one will stand in the way of a buyer’s plan to move someplace where the interest IS real and can generate profit!
And the Yankees would be the first team to vote YES to any move!
I hear what you’re saying concerning supporting this team and you make a good point.
I don’t however, agree with the rest on MLB not caring if the franchise moves out of NY.
Well it’s not like they won’t still have a presence in NY anymore.
If we were the only team then yes they would have an issue losing the biggest market in the country but the yankees will still be here.
So it really wouldn’t hurt them if one of the teams went elsewhere.
Here’s the thing, though: No owner in their RIGHT MIND would want to take the Mets out of NYC.
I doubt there are too many people out there willing to spend hundreds (and HUNDREDS) of millions of dollars for the team, and then immediately spend a HUGE amount of extra money moving the team and building a new stadium, all so they can have a team in a LESS PROFITABLE market, and then try and compensate all of that by having a tiny payroll.
It would be like buying a brand-new, mint condition Lamburgini at a police auction and then spending $5,000 to attach your old Buick’s spoiler to the back…
“all so they can have a team in a LESS PROFITABLE market”
How can you move to a market LESS profitable than one thats losing money every year because no one shows up?
I mean if profits come into play at all in any buyers thinking what is going to make them think this is a profitable market anymore?
I mean if that were REALLY true we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all!
The lack of attendance is from terrible ownership, which leads to terrible teams, I hope we can agree on that. The market of this team is New York City. The Mets are the team, not the market.
New York City is a baseball town of tens of millions of people, and is perhaps the biggest center of focus media-wise ON EARTH. If Jeter played his whole career in Oakland he wouldn’t have anywhere NEAR the reputation he does having played in NYC.
The Wilpons are the problem, not the city.
The Mets money troubles have nothing to do with their market.
The Mets problem is whatever debts the Wilpons have aquired through bad business deals.
The only hope to solve that is to bring in as many people as possible willing to spend on tickets, parking, concessions etc etc
the days of baseball when it was at its best.
Yup, like when teams could be bribed to throw a World Series.
Or when an owner would trade THE GREATEST PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL straight up for cash, which he then used not on the team, but on a MUSICAL.
Or when players weren’t allowed to play based on the color of their skin.
…I know I’m cherry picking but I really don’t dig the romanticized “OLD=PURE, NEW=CORRUPT” thing going on in this thread. And just to echo the esteemed Mr. NJ, if you think the Giants and Dodgers moved west because fans weren’t coming out to see them, you know far less about baseball than some of these “youngsters.”
LOL Berb, Nostalgia is the ability to NOT remember all the bad things that happened at that time!
We all turn 50 and start thinking about how great it was when we were in school when at the time we all looked for any excuse for getting out of going!
That said you have to give those old timers credit where a guy didn’t make the team to pitch 1 inning a day and just about every starting pither started every 3rd or 4th day!
And were expected to pitch a complete game everytime!
That’s why I added in that I was cherry picking. There definitely were some amazing things about the olden days, but your definition of Nostalgia is about as good as it gets!
the only possible comparison to Montreal would be if the owners got in such a bind they couldn’t make payroll, and MLB had to step in.
the key difference though is that once that happens, the team will be sold, and people will be lining up to make offers for the whole enchilada (SNY stake, park, team). And not to move it out of NY!
pretty much the same thing that happened in Texas, but likely with 10x the # of interested buyers!
my guess? If it gets to that point, Selig will work behind the scenes with Wilpon to quickly broker a deal and get new owners in, even if it meant a bridge loan to cover expenses while the deal was taken care of.
Metsie is also right, in that what is killing them is attendance being 500K – 1mill less than what they probably budgeted for (in terms of covering the crushing debt load). Last year, they dropped ~600,000 in paid attendance. estimate what, $50/head (tix, food, parking, probably way conservative), and that is $30million right there that they effectively pre-spent that never happened.
a good analogy is you buy a house and stretch to a huge mortgage, counting on OT to cover it. Then your company slows down, you lose all OT, then some regular hours. Then guess what? You can’t make your payments!