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The economic facts of the landscape that is baseball do not and will not ever allow "cheap owners" as you call them to simply go into the back yard and rattle the money tree to generate cash flow to pay $190 million dollars in salary unless perhaps you have a concetrated fan base in a major media market the size of New York. It's just that simple.
These "cheap owners" are all individuals who have made a living out of making money. None of them are afraid of working hard, none of them are afraid of being innovative or inventive, none of them are afraid at trying new ways to raise revenue. When you analyze the facts about where the cash flow comes from to support the large market teams it's simple. The very lucrative local television contracts and advertising that is paid in those markets to be on during the broadcasts. Subscribtion TV packages and the like also play a part. Smaller cities don't have the econimic base to support that form of revenue.
I live in a city where the average week night attendance for games, when the divisional race is usually well on it's way to being decided, is still over 22 thousand. Weekend attendance depending on the series still approaches 30 thousand. I'd say we have a loyal fan base for 81 games a year. It certainly starts with putting butts in the seats but it's also about butts in seats in TV land that generate the highly lucrative cash flow to support big dollar player contracts.
Study up....the facts are pretty clear. Owners aren't in this to lose money (at least most of them).
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What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?
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