OT: Nutting

[BigBird80]

Pretty much flips off Pirates fans and says keep giving your money I can bank it, because it's not being invested in the team.


https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26040850/bob-nutting-says-pricey-free-agent-not-cards-pirates%3fplatform=amp

 

[PittPanthers90]

In other news.....water is wet

 

[fairgambit]

10 years ago I would attend 10 or more games a season. In the past 3 years I have not gone at all and never will under current ownership. I am not one to tell Nutting how to spend his money but if he chooses not to spend it on the Pirates, neither will I.

 

[McKee Place]

Yeah, I've only gone to one game since 1992, and that was to see the new stadium, and it was a freebie.

But i respect others don't care about winning and just want the night out, the shirt, the sky blast etc. Normally it would just be a live and let live. You like bobbleheads that much that you'll spend hundreds for taking the family that night, or even thousands for season ticket packages to ensure you get all the free shirts and dolls... hey, enjoy.

But the reason everyone who lives in the state and especially in Allegheny county should be just a little peeved that this is the extent of the product offered, is because all of our money went to build and continuing to maintain the stadium where they give the trinkets from. He didn't pay to build it, or maintain it, or at least hardly any of it.

The Steelers are making tons of money and can be business tyrants at times, and right now kind of look like bumbling fools ... but at least they work up to the limits, aka cap, to put out a competitive product, specifically a product that appeals to what most in the region want ... consistent winning teams ... and not the odd nth percent niche that go for free trinkets or nostalgia.

 

[paulbl99]

Spending money on baseball players doesn’t mean anything.
Saber Geniuses pointed out for yrs here that a team of bushers and tomato cans is the way to go...if you get the obscure metrics right.

Is Ike Davis still out there?

 

[pittbb80]

As I've said before, Nutting is running a business and maximizing his profits. Clearly there is enough of a customer base that still enjoys the product to justify his current business model Until that customer base determines the product is no longer worth buying nothing will change.

 

[upj87]

Pretty much flips off Pirates fans and says keep giving your money I can bank it, because it's not being invested in the team.


https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26040850/bob-nutting-says-pricey-free-agent-not-cards-pirates%3fplatform=amp

congrats..you just made the 1,000 I hate Nutting post here...Tell em what he's won, Don Pardo...

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Our payroll is 40 million under league average. Smh. There needs to be a salary floor. Players union needs to step up. And make it be in payroll, don’t let these owners fudge numbers by talking about investments in their minor league system in Central America.

No one cares that they put in running water and a locker room in the Dominican Republic.

 

[McKee Place]

It's baseball spring training, but Pirates expectations are zero (again), and he's the reason... so what else would a Pirates OT center on? They're lucky anyone talks about em at all. Pretty much true of Pitt sports as well for that matter. The mirror images of the two are nauseatingly close.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

It's baseball spring training, but Pirates expectations are zero (again), and he's the reason... so what else would a Pirates OT center on? They're lucky anyone talks about em at all. Pretty much true of Pitt sports as well for that matter. The mirror images of the two are nauseatingly close.

we actually have a really nice starting 5 and debatably, one of the best bullpens. On paper anyways.. but yeah, nothing as far as improving the offensive numbers, complete unknowns on the corner. IF our south Korean boy can come back, IF bell can find his power, IF Polanco can get his head out of his backside, IF Marte… IF IF IF IF.

a bunch of "ifs" and IF that all works out, we still are hell and gone from sniffing first place in this division..

 

[McKee Place]

we actually have a really nice starting 5 and debatably, one of the best bullpens. On paper anyways.. but yeah, nothing as far as improving the offensive numbers, complete unknowns on the corner. IF our south Korean boy can come back, IF bell can find his power, IF Polanco can get his head out of his backside, IF Marte… IF IF IF IF.

a bunch of "ifs" and IF that all works out, we still are hell and gone from sniffing first place in this division..

It's like with our sports, the structure and culture are such that even with a couple random positives, the overall deck is so stacked that it's practically impossible ti conceive a path to a championship, ever. And no matter what the dreamers and most altruistic among us here preach, the masses of fans need that hope to invest interest.

I'm not gonna be giddy for Pitt winning 2 ACC hoops games and finishing the year on a 0-12 slump, as wretched as that is, it is better than last year, just because I spent 5 years there(counting grad school ...I wasn't no slacker!) That's not enough.

Same with .500 football and prospects looking no better next year for the same. If that.

Just like I am not going to feel giddy that if everything goes right the Pirates might just not finish last this year... that's not enough either. Regular fans aren't wired that way.

These teams and owners/chancellor deserve the whining that they get, their policies and actions are to blame for them. You put crap out there, expect crap hurled back at ya in return. As mentioned, after so many DECADES of the same shit, they're lucky they get any attention at all.

 

[pittdan77]

It's like with our sports, the structure and culture are such that even with a couple random positives, the overall deck is so stacked that it's practically impossible ti conceive a path to a championship, ever. And no matter what the dreamers and most altruistic among us here preach, the masses of fans need that hope to invest interest.

I'm not gonna be giddy for Pitt winning 2 ACC hoops games and finishing the year on a 0-12 slump, as wretched as that is, it is better than last year, just because I spent 5 years there(counting grad school ...I wasn't no slacker!) That's not enough.

Same with .500 football and prospects looking no better next year for the same. If that.

Just like I am not going to feel giddy that if everything goes right the Pirates might just not finish last this year... that's not enough either. Regular fans aren't wired that way.

These teams and owners/chancellor deserve the whining that they get, their policies and actions are to blame for them. You put crap out there, expect crap hurled back at ya in return. As mentioned, after so many DECADES of the same shit, they're lucky they get any attention at all.

I agree. But there's a group of idiots that will immediately question if you're a "real fan" because you don't want to play up how the club is victimized or you'll refuse to attend games. If the club won't try, why should you care?

 

[pittdan77]

I'm going to call my shot here and predict that at some point, the Pirates will somehow manage to be within a few games of first place in the division and on a winning streak when some clown comes on the board and proudly posts a "in your face losers" thread. Late May-ish or so. And then it all crumbles.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Pretty much flips off Pirates fans and says keep giving your money I can bank it, because it's not being invested in the team.


https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26040850/bob-nutting-says-pricey-free-agent-not-cards-pirates%3fplatform=amp

If you want to run the Pirates your way buy the Pirates.

Nutting invested money in buying the Pirates and is getting a ROI that is above his "hurdle rate."
For those of you who live and work in Pittsburgh I wouldn't expect any of you to understand a capitalist term like hurdle rate so the definition is show below:
In business and engineering, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdlerate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects.

He has the audience that he needs and wants. Sure Nutting would like to fill the place up but the incremental investment to add high profile players isn't worth the ROI he'll get on that investment.

Nutting will continue to invest in the team at these levels, maybe he'll snag a "diamond in the rough" player that is discounted for some reason and hope every three years things come together and the Pirates make a run or get in the play-offs.
When that happens more fans will show up for a while and the cycle will continue.

The Pirates have a dedicated fanbase that will complain but still attend games in hopes of that once in a while play-off run.

During football season Mrs Buffett and see lots of Pirates fans in the Northshore hotels we stay at traveling and paying big money to stay on the Northshore and attend a Pirate game.

Nutting is a bad Pro Team owner but apparently a really good business guy!
Maybe one day the government will own all Pro Teams.
That'll fix it???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

If you want to run the Pirates your way buy the Pirates.

Nutting invested money in buying the Pirates and is getting a ROI that is above his "hurdle rate."
For those of you who live and work in Pittsburgh I wouldn't expect any of you to understand a capitalist term like hurdle rate so the definition is show below:
In business and engineering, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdlerate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects.

He has the audience that he needs and wants. He'll continue to invest in the team at these levels and hope every three years things come together and the Pirates make a run or get in the play-offs.
When that happens more fans will show up for a while and the cycle will continue.

The Pirates have a dedicated fanbase that will complain but still attend games in hopes of that once in a while play-off run.

During football season Mrs Buffett and see lots of Pirates fans in the Northshore hotels we stay at traveling and paying big money to stay on the Northshore and attend a Pirate game.

Nutting is a bad Pro Team owner but apparently a really good business guy!
Maybe one day the government will own all Pro Teams.
That'll fix it!

pirates attendance the last 3 years is 1Million less than the 3 years prior. numbers are dwindling.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

pirates attendance the last 3 years is 1Million less than the 3 years prior. numbers are dwindling.

That's true.
I'm not saying things are good but they seem to be ok with Nutting which is all that he cares about Himself.

Some how he's making a profit running the team or benefiting somewhere using the Pirates as tax loss entity. He could have big investment income especially now with the stock market surging.

If the Pirates have positive cash flow he might make more taking that cash, investing it, using the Pirates tax loss to offset his investment profits.

Rich people make money in lots of different ways!

That one thing that makes America great! Go buy a MLB franchse.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

That's true.
I'm not saying things are good but they seem to be ok with Nutting which is all that he cares about Himself.

he makes money before one ticket is sold. we can all quit buying tickets all we want, it's not making him sell. Our only hope is the union getting involved and forcing a mandatory salary floor..

 

[Parkview57]

There is alot of chatter on here to indicate that people still think attendance matters,i.e "until people wise-up"..... but it seems to me that baseball TV money , etc., are set up in such a way that Nutting profits alot even with little attendance. There is no incentive to spend money to be more competitive so to him any $20m he spends this year is money directly out of his bank account. It has become a horrible system. It has been bad for awhile but who could believe that even with poor attendance owners could add millions to their coffers. One small ray of hope is how soft the FA market is for the regular albeit solid MLB veteran, ie. Josh Harrison. If this continues, perhaps the union demands some way to set a salary "basement"

 

[sonofabit]

I was naive to actually think the owners were up to something with the stalled activity this winter. Then the Padres chose to spend $75 million a year on just three players. Philly is up next. All fingers pointed at them to make a ridiculous deal worth $350 - $400 million for one player. Ownership will cave undoubtedly even though they're basically the only team interested in what Harper can bring to a team given his demands.

 

[pittdan77]

If you want to run the Pirates your way buy the Pirates.

Nutting invested money in buying the Pirates and is getting a ROI that is above his "hurdle rate."
For those of you who live and work in Pittsburgh I wouldn't expect any of you to understand a capitalist term like hurdle rate so the definition is show below:
In business and engineering, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdlerate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects.

He has the audience that he needs and wants. Sure Nutting would like to fill the place up but the incremental investment to add high profile players isn't worth the ROI he'll get on that investment.

Nutting will continue to invest in the team at these levels, maybe he'll snag a "diamond in the rough" player that is discounted for some reason and hope every three years things come together and the Pirates make a run or get in the play-offs.
When that happens more fans will show up for a while and the cycle will continue.

The Pirates have a dedicated fanbase that will complain but still attend games in hopes of that once in a while play-off run.

During football season Mrs Buffett and see lots of Pirates fans in the Northshore hotels we stay at traveling and paying big money to stay on the Northshore and attend a Pirate game.

Nutting is a bad Pro Team owner but apparently a really good business guy!
Maybe one day the government will own all Pro Teams.
That'll fix it???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

So it's cool for him to break the implied contract with the city that the Pirates would do their best to field a winning ball team in the stadium the city built because the franchise, more or less, demanded it, to turn a profit? I understand he wasn't there the day that deal was made but he's broken the public trust. Makes the $200 plus million the taxpayers spent look like a terrible return on investment for the fans. He's not a good business man. He's more or less running a long con. No idea why it's easily justified when a rich guy does it.

Just wait til he holds the city hostage for a new stadium. Either that or he'll move on and find the next patsy of a city. But yeah, smart business guy all right.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

If you want to run the Pirates your way buy the Pirates.

Nutting invested money in buying the Pirates and is getting a ROI that is above his "hurdle rate."
For those of you who live and work in Pittsburgh I wouldn't expect any of you to understand a capitalist term like hurdle rate so the definition is show below:
In business and engineering, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdlerate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects.

He has the audience that he needs and wants. Sure Nutting would like to fill the place up but the incremental investment to add high profile players isn't worth the ROI he'll get on that investment.

Nutting will continue to invest in the team at these levels, maybe he'll snag a "diamond in the rough" player that is discounted for some reason and hope every three years things come together and the Pirates make a run or get in the play-offs.
When that happens more fans will show up for a while and the cycle will continue.

The Pirates have a dedicated fanbase that will complain but still attend games in hopes of that once in a while play-off run.

During football season Mrs Buffett and see lots of Pirates fans in the Northshore hotels we stay at traveling and paying big money to stay on the Northshore and attend a Pirate game.

Nutting is a bad Pro Team owner but apparently a really good business guy!
Maybe one day the government will own all Pro Teams.
That'll fix it???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Your second to last statement says it all. I am hoping MLB gets rid of the luxury tax and creates a salary floor. Then and only then maybe Nutting is uncomfortable with ownership of a sports franchise.

The only honest sports league for owners is the NHL because it is a gate driven league primarily (or was) and teams had to try to win to gain fans and make the playoffs to get extra games (revenue).

 

[FreeportPanther]

The salary "floor" is a slippery slope for the players union. It would require there to be a salary "cap" as well in order for it to fly, and that is something the players and their union would find difficult to swallow.

This year, there appears to be collusion in signing the lower ended free agents. Guys like Josh Harrison who hasn't gotten an offer, or Neal Walker who got a million dollar salary are not being offered, or being offered well below historical precedent.

That may juice up enough players to be more amenable to a salary cap structure, but I doubt it. Owners have been their own worst enemies in escalating salaries, but on the other hand, they are awash in cash and profit so it is hard to feel sorry for them. They don't care about the competitive balance of the league, but seem content for MLB to be dominated by 6 or so mega super rich franchises with crumbs being thrown to the other suckers.

As long as fans are content cheering for the Washington Generals, baseball will continue to thrive.

 

[jtownknowitall]

Josh Harrison is a Tiger. There was a glut of middle infielders available in free agency this year (Lowrie, Murphy, Marwin Gonzalez, LeMahieu, Dozier, Harrison and Walker). Harrison signed this week, Marwin Gonzalez today. Daniel Murphy signed December 20. Jed Lowrie on January 10. Jordy Mercer has been signed since December 13.

 

[FreeportPanther]

Josh Harrison is a Tiger. There was a glut of middle infielders available in free agency this year (Lowrie, Murphy, Marwin Gonzalez, LeMahieu, Dozier, Harrison and Walker). Harrison signed this week, Marwin Gonzalez today. Daniel Murphy signed December 20. Jed Lowrie on January 10. Jordy Mercer has been signed since December 13.

Missed that. What did he get?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The salary "floor" is a slippery slope for the players union. It would require there to be a salary "cap" as well in order for it to fly, and that is something the players and their union would find difficult to swallow.

This year, there appears to be collusion in signing the lower ended free agents. Guys like Josh Harrison who hasn't gotten an offer, or Neal Walker who got a million dollar salary are not being offered, or being offered well below historical precedent.

That may juice up enough players to be more amenable to a salary cap structure, but I doubt it. Owners have been their own worst enemies in escalating salaries, but on the other hand, they are awash in cash and profit so it is hard to feel sorry for them. They don't care about the competitive balance of the league, but seem content for MLB to be dominated by 6 or so mega super rich franchises with crumbs being thrown to the other suckers.

As long as fans are content cheering for the Washington Generals, baseball will continue to thrive.

Yeah what is happening is the very top guys are getting paid. But the lower and mid level guys are getting squeezed. You wonder, if players on the $5 million level is willing to sacrifice $1-5 million a year just so the big boys can get their $20+ million.

If you think about it, as an owner, you want to create this divide, because it is really risky to invest $300 million in one player, who could be subject to injury or not pan out, etc...

The other thing, while payroll wins, I think it is more prudent to have a $200+ million payroll of $10-20 million guys, than having a $175 million payroll with a couple of $25 million guys.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

It's baseball spring training, but Pirates expectations are zero (again), and he's the reason... so what else would a Pirates OT center on? They're lucky anyone talks about em at all. Pretty much true of Pitt sports as well for that matter. The mirror images of the two are nauseatingly close.

I'm sure Ron Cook will write his annual romanticizing about baseball column and how wonderful PNC park is (probably drinking beer on Neil's dime) all the while ignoring the sh@t show on the field.

 

[jtownknowitall]

Missed that. What did he get?

I haven't seen a dollar amount reported. One year deal.

 

[FreeportPanther]

I haven't seen a dollar amount reported. One year deal.

I looked it up, $2 million. Pirates were smart to not pick up the 10 million dollar option!

 

[PittPanthers90]

If you want to run the Pirates your way buy the Pirates.

Nutting invested money in buying the Pirates and is getting a ROI that is above his "hurdle rate."
For those of you who live and work in Pittsburgh I wouldn't expect any of you to understand a capitalist term like hurdle rate so the definition is show below:
In business and engineering, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdlerate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects.

He has the audience that he needs and wants. Sure Nutting would like to fill the place up but the incremental investment to add high profile players isn't worth the ROI he'll get on that investment.

Nutting will continue to invest in the team at these levels, maybe he'll snag a "diamond in the rough" player that is discounted for some reason and hope every three years things come together and the Pirates make a run or get in the play-offs.
When that happens more fans will show up for a while and the cycle will continue.

The Pirates have a dedicated fanbase that will complain but still attend games in hopes of that once in a while play-off run.

During football season Mrs Buffett and see lots of Pirates fans in the Northshore hotels we stay at traveling and paying big money to stay on the Northshore and attend a Pirate game.

Nutting is a bad Pro Team owner but apparently a really good business guy!
Maybe one day the government will own all Pro Teams.
That'll fix it???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

You and your philosophy is what is wrong with America today.
You admire and support what Nutting is doing.

He is making money of a tax payer funded facility. And you think he has the right to do this while giving the bird to the tax payers and laughing to the bank.

Capitalize the profits, socialize the risks.
Nutting sums up what is wrong with baseball AND with the ACTUAL way our economy is run ....Privatize the profits, socialize (socialism) the risks

 

[upj87]

at

You and your philosophy is what is wrong with America today.
You admire and support what Nutting is doing.

He is making money of a tax payer funded facility. And you think he has the right to do this while giving the bird to the tax payers and laughing to the bank.

Capitalize the profits, socialize the risks.
Nutting sums up what is wrong with baseball AND with the ACTUAL way our economy is run ....Privatize the profits, socialize (socialism) the risks

you might have to run that "giving the bird" to the taxpayers thing by me again...the taxpayers/voters elected Nutting to nothing...

And you think he has the right to do this ...if not in violation of any law, then,uh ya sure he does..

 

[FreeportPanther]

at
you might have to run that "giving the bird" to the taxpayers thing by me again...the taxpayers/voters elected Nutting to nothing...

Well, the deal for subsidizing PNC Park was supposed to be money pumped back into payroll to ensure a competitive team year in and year out.

He got the subsidized stadium. The spending for a competitive team, not so much!

 

[upj87]

Well, the deal for subsidizing PNC Park was supposed to be money pumped back into payroll to ensure a competitive team year in and year out.

He got the subsidized stadium. The spending for a competitive team, not so much!

Well, the deal for subsidizing PNC Park was supposed to be money pumped back into payroll to ensure a competitive team year in and year out.... kinda have to see the wording on that one...if so, seems to me the .500 team from last year would fit the bill...I'm no lawyer but "supposed to" does not seem to be that strong of a binding legal clause..

 

[FreeportPanther]

Well, the deal for subsidizing PNC Park was supposed to be money pumped back into payroll to ensure a competitive team year in and year out.... kinda have to see the wording on that one...if so, seems to me the .500 team from last year would fit the bill...

Not sure it was memorialized in a signed deal.
More of a PR campaign waged by McClatchy and others to sway public opinion.
Said if they had the state of the art stadium, they would plow the profits back into the team, keep it here for years to come, and compete with the big boys at a high level for a long time.
Remember, the alternative was the City losing the franchise as well.

It was snake oil peddled by a con man. McClatchy fronting for Nutting, et. al. A team with one of the lowest payrolls in MLB year after year certainly isn't what was promised.

 

[pittdan77]

Well, the deal for subsidizing PNC Park was supposed to be money pumped back into payroll to ensure a competitive team year in and year out.... kinda have to see the wording on that one...if so, seems to me the .500 team from last year would fit the bill...I'm no lawyer but "supposed to" does not seem to be that strong of a binding legal clause..

Even if it was "binding", the city and county won't do anything about it.

 

[FreeportPanther]

The Pirates have a PDG and Young starting rotation.
Amazingly, their entire starting rotation cost them less than 10 million dollars! That is simply amazing.
Now, if they perform up to expectations, and the pen is solid, that is very hopeful.

The downside can they get enough runs to take advantage of it?
That requires a lot of IF's.
If Josh Bell bounces back from his poor season last year and produces more like he did the year before, big plus.

If Kang/Moran provide a viable platoon at 3rd base and contribute some power/rbi from that position, big plus.

If good Starling Marte shows up more often than goofball Starling Marte, big plus.

If Dickerson stays solid in LF and hits with a bit more power, big plus.

If Polanco heals properly and builds on his excellent offensive start from last season, big plus.

If Cervelli stays healthy, has a solid offensive year, AND handles the young pitching staff well, big plus.

If the new guys at SS and 2nd base perform as good as Mercer/Harrison, big plus.

Will be interesting how many of those things work out. That will determine how they do this year, regardless of payroll. They could actually defy the payroll dependant experts and do fairly well.

If they hang in, and are competitive in August/September, you would think they have plenty of $$ to add pieces.
Yeah right! Can't believe I just typed that!

 

[ScrantonicityIII]

Our payroll is 40 million under league average. Smh. There needs to be a salary floor. Players union needs to step up. And make it be in payroll, don’t let these owners fudge numbers by talking about investments in their minor league system in Central America.

No one cares that they put in running water and a locker room in the Dominican Republic.

I think the only way that helps is if they add a hard salary cap at the top, otherwise the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox etc can still attract the best talent by throwing stooopid money around. All the Buccos would do to get to the cap is overpay for mediocre talent.

 

[Frabjous]

So if the taxpayers build stadiums for rich owners who can afford to build the stadiums themselves, and the taxpayers don’t get a share of the profits, is that not Socialism?

 

[McKee Place]

Even if it was "binding", the city and county won't do anything about it.

All the county or city officials who might cause a stink are no doubt well taken care of. 100 losses are easier to take if you're in a luxury box with the best food and drink and chauffeured rides or free parking etc.

 

[Delpanther]

The Pirates have a PDG and Young starting rotation.
Amazingly, their entire starting rotation cost them less than 10 million dollars! That is simply amazing.
Now, if they perform up to expectations, and the pen is solid, that is very hopeful.

The downside can they get enough runs to take advantage of it?
That requires a lot of IF's.
If Josh Bell bounces back from his poor season last year and produces more like he did the year before, big plus.

If Kang/Moran provide a viable platoon at 3rd base and contribute some power/rbi from that position, big plus.

If good Starling Marte shows up more often than goofball Starling Marte, big plus.

If Dickerson stays solid in LF and hits with a bit more power, big plus.

If Polanco heals properly and builds on his excellent offensive start from last season, big plus.

If Cervelli stays healthy, has a solid offensive year, AND handles the young pitching staff well, big plus.

If the new guys at SS and 2nd base perform as good as Mercer/Harrison, big plus.

Will be interesting how many of those things work out. That will determine how they do this year, regardless of payroll. They could actually defy the payroll dependant experts and do fairly well.

If they hang in, and are competitive in August/September, you would think they have plenty of $$ to add pieces.
Yeah right! Can't believe I just typed that!

If all those items break right, they end up .500.... othetwise they will suck. I predict they suck!

 

[BuffetParrothead]

So if the taxpayers build stadiums for rich owners who can afford to build the stadiums themselves, and the taxpayers don’t get a share of the profits, is that not Socialism?

It's not socialism it's called mis-management of the cities finances where these stadiums are constructed.

IMO all sports stadiums should be "primarily" funded by the team owners in the cities where they're located.
A component of public "free money" would work since sports franchises bring lots of people to town helping the local hospitality segment.

If this would take place free market principles would kick in, athletes compensation would be evaluated more carefully, and the team would have to work hard to develope , market and sell a product that people want.

"it''s five o'clock somewhere"
Signed: Mr Buffett
Go PITT & CSU Rams!