Then shouldn't you have learned that giving money to 30+ year old sluggers never ends well

Heck, we should thank Boras for being a Caller Bob in 2004 during the Magglio negotiations. We dodged a bomb there.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

You think he wasn't going to raise prices anyway? America really is fucked.

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I would think players contracts are factored into how much they raise the ticket prices. Or go with your theory that they just pick a number out of a baseball cap and raise them, then go back to snorting coke off the hookers. Job well done.

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Yep, remember how much the Cubs lowered ticket prices from 2010 to 2014 when their payroll dropped $50 million? That was so generous of them.

The ticket prices versus player salary issue is more complex than just payroll year to year. If you looked at teams salaries and ticket prices over a 5 year average it might be more clear but I digress.

The problem with both the owners and the players making too much money has been a long growing problem for customers since probably before the Winfield or Henderson contract. It has just been a hyper inflation bubble that if we are lucky maybe soon will be coming to an end.

I would never say the best players should not make the most money or that the owners shouldn't also be rewarded very well also. But how much? Is baseball any better for anyone at the stadium or on tv now that a player makes $20M and a beer is $10 than when the top player made $3M and a beer was $2.75? I would say no. Television contracts, taxpayer subsidies, owner and player greed has created this and it seemingly will never end.

So no the tickets and beer will likely never come down but it is understandable why a fan sees why they went up and why they should come back down. The best you can hope for with current news about free agency and tv contracts possibly returning to sanity is the consumer price hikes might more closely mirror real inflation.

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Elections have consequences.

If you are going to be a troll, at least be an educated troll.

In 2010 the Cubs had a 146MIL payroll (3rd in the league) and an average ticket price of 52.56.

2011-2014 the payroll goes from 146MIL to 89MIL and the average ticket prices DROP to 44.16 in 2014. They dropped the prices each year 2011,12,13,14 while rebuilding and reducing payroll.

They didn't dramatically raise prices until 2016 (51.33)when the payroll INCREASED to 116MIL and then 170MIL in 2018.

Even after they won the World Series the ticket prices were still lower (51.33) then in 2010 (52.56)

So yes, payroll ABSOLUTELY factors into ticket prices. Anyone that says otherwise is misinformed and or an idiot.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/203457/chicago-cubs-average-ticket-price/

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Atlanta Falcons fans have a new reason to cheer -- cheap concessions.

When the team's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium opens in 2017, the prices of hot dogs and soda (with unlimited refills) will be the lowest in the NFL at just $2 each.

In fact, across all four major sports leagues, only two Major League Baseball teams have cheaper prices for sodas and hot dogs.

Other inexpensive concession offerings will be: $2 bottled water, pretzels and popcorn; $3 peanuts, pizza, nachos and waffle fries; and $5 12-ounce cups of domestic beer.

Because of the low prices, a family of four will be able to eat for about $28 at Falcons games and other events at the stadium.

Local and national restaurant chains will offer higher end food items, draft beers and mixed drinks at the same prices offered in their regular locations.

The Falcons also hope to have shorter wait times in concession lines.

Soda refill stations will be self-serve and will be in a different area from where people are placing their initial orders.

All prices, which include tax, are on the dollar -- no coins needed.

The new stadium, in downtown Atlanta, will have 670 spots where fans can buy concessions -- 65% more than what the team currently has in the Georgia Dome.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the aim was to produce a "unique fan experience" that would allow game attendees to focus on the game and not become frustrated with the inflated cost of food and drinks.



Lower prices encouraged fans to come earlier and buy more

6,000 more fans per game entered the stadium earlier than they did in 2016, and in general, the venue sold as much food by the end of the first quarter of Falcons games as it did in full games in 2016. Fans also gave the Falcons the highest satisfaction rating in the NFL for food and beverages, up from No. 18 in 2016, and the highest rating for security satisfaction, in part the result of lines made shorter by all the early entries.

They also bought more food -- sales were up 53 percent -- and each fan spent, on average, 16 percent more on concessions.

While no other major sports franchise has replicated the plan, they are taking note. Cannon said “dozens” of team owners and venues have called asking for more details on the pricing strategy.

Cannon said he believes that eventually, the Falcons’ food and beverage profit will eclipse its 2016 numbers. “This is just a first report card,” Cannon said. “And it says that we changed the dynamic inside of an industry that was fairly set in its ways, it’s having an amazing impact on our fans’ satisfaction, and, oh by the way, spending per person did go up. The system-wide impacts are great.”

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I was at a Bears game this year, and the price of a hot dog was $7.50. Fucking ridiculous

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Oh yeah, statista.com, of course. I'm sure the ticket prices didn't have anything to do with the Cubs sucking and it was all because of payroll.

Are you just rambling? because you're not making any sense.

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You're the one linking some rando website about ticket prices. Do you honestly think the Cubs lowered ticket prices because their payroll was lower and not because they sucked? Like if they were .500 instead of one of the worst teams in baseball with the lower payroll they would have lowered prices?

A bad contract always ends up taking up salary that could be spent on a more productive talent. Pretty easy to see that 5 or 6 year contract for Jake Arrietta ends up being really bad by the end. It’s not an owners v. players debate….it’s the fat that the fans always end up suffering watching an overpaid hack suck up the joint at the end of their contract.

I support this nomination…I, too, am enjoying the GM’s actually use common sense.

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Until the agents fuck them over with a false collusion settlement.

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Elections have consequences.

it's very hard to prove collusion. Remember when Barry Bonds tried to sue over it?

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Yeah, if you can't prove that no one signing the league leader in on base percentage with a OPS > 1 isn't collusion, what can you prove?

As Bernstein said, this is great because there's nothing in writing to prove it's collusion, it's just that all the Really Smart People went to school together and all happen to share the same beliefs.

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exactly, if you couldn't prove it in that case, you'll never prove it.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb- ... er-ending/

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Idk guys. I am conditioned to believe that until now anyway the MLB union always wins.

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Elections have consequences.

In the past yes, but now Mr. Fehr has moved on to fucking the NHL.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

ITT: a guy licking Jeremy Jacobs's taint

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In the past it's team ownership doing it to themselves....just a sampling of stupid long-term contracts.
Mike Hampton
Barry Zito
Carl Pavano
Kevin Brown

Alex Rodriguez
Pablo Sandoval
Carl Crawford
Matt Kemp

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If I am a MLB GM, I put an 11x17 photo of Ryan Howard in whichever conference room I have discussions about FA strategy.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

After that Heyward contract Mlb owners had to take a step back..he's the last big shitty deal.

Harper n Machado will get 250 million next year and this strike talk nonsense will cease.

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After that Heyward contract Mlb owners had to take a step back..he's the last big shitty deal.

Harper n Machado will get 250 million next year and this strike talk nonsense will cease.

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Probably more than $250M

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.