I attended and wrote about the first Browns training camp practice Saturday. Wish I could offer some great insights from one workout, but it was really pretty vanilla. Mike Brown also discussed the loss to Orlando, and there's some more Indians financial stuff in Sunday's Beacon Journal.
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Duly noted, larry.
"Jacobs Average Payroll: $42,900,300 (adjusted for inflation in 2009 dollars)
Dolan Average Payroll: $73,108,000 (adjusted for inflation in 2009 dollars)"
This is kind of irrelevant. You have to compare what the league is spending to the owners' output. According to USA Today (http://content.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/totalpayroll.aspx?year=1988), the results look like this:
Year/Rank/Owner
1988 22 of 26 Jacobs
1989 23 of 26 Jacobs
1990 16 of 26 Jacobs
1991 21 of 26 Jacobs
1992 26 of 26 Jacobs
1993 26 of 28 Jacobs
1994 18 of 28 Jacobs
1995 9 of 28 Jacobs
1996 4 of 28 Jacobs
1997 3 of 28 Jacobs
1998 8 of 30 Jacobs
1999 6 of 30 Jacobs
2000 8 of 30 Dolan
2001 5 of 30 Dolan
2002 9 of 30 Dolan
2003 26 of 30 Dolan
2004 26 of 30 Dolan
2005 25 of 30 Dolan
2006 24 of 30 Dolan
2007 22 of 30 Dolan
2008 16 of 30 Dolan
The trend is disturbing. While Jacobs looks like he had a plan and executed it (save cash, get a stadium, spend cash to put a better product in a new stadium), Dolan just looks cheap (in comparison to the league). The Dolan numbers look like he inherited a high payroll and then started to pare it down. Maybe we just don't see the long term plan yet, maybe he over-paid for the franchise and can't sustain it or maybe it's something else; I'm no expert. I'm also not out to deify Mr. Jacobs. But the current owner… not getting it done. Nope.
Those first seven years of Jacobs was a disgrace. Particularly those two years preceding when he knew the franchise was moving into the stadium and he knew he didn't have to spend a penny.
And actually, some of those numbers you posted are off a tad, but I'm not going to nitpick.
It's easy "spend" when the revenue is pouring in. It's easy to "spend" (gee, but never on pitchers) when loges are pre-sold before the stadium is even open to 10-year-leases at $1 million a pop. It's easy to "spend" when, during the first four to five years of that brand-spanking-new stadium, the regular folks who can't afford loges would have paid to see games even if they were 0-162.
Then, it was coming time to re-up all the guys Hart originally signed for cheap, and Jacobs bailed out. If he still owned the franchise today, you'd see the exact same thing Dolan is doing now. Jacobs was a scoundrel.
Dolan overpaid in a major way. He let his dream and his heart supersede his brain and his head. It's back to normal, Cleveland is a rotten baseball town, and they have to play Moneyball.
Question:
Will Cleveland become the first U.S. city to lose all 3 of its pro franchises?
The Browns easily left for a better offer in '95. (It was only a miracle that brought us back this ridiculously bad expansion team.)
Fans want the Tribe owners to sell. The only takers would be another city wanting a baseball franchise.
If LeBron opts to leave next year, how long can the Cavs survive here? I think we all know, fans will turn on the team, the GM and owner. And Mr. Gilbert the businessman wouldn't think twice about fielding the best offer from another city.
BOTTOM LINE: Fans, you may think this scenario can never happen, just as you thought it impossible for the Browns to leave. You are one of about 30 cities privileged to have 3 major-league sports to follow. Instead of your incessant whining about money, I suggest you just shut up and support your teams while you still can.
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