Categorizing the negotiations between Major League Baseball team owners and players as a case of "billionaires versus millionaires" is both a tired trope, incorrect, and a clear signal the speaker has no real understanding of the issue.
While the 750 players lucky enough to secure a spot on the 25-man roster of one of the 30 major league teams make far more than minimum wage, there are other factors worth considering.
Those players are the absolute best (or among the absolute best) in the entire world. Their jobs are almost literally impossible to get. There are 2.3 billion people on the planet between the ages of 20 and 39 (29.9%). If half that number (1.15 billion or 15%) are male, then only 1 out of every 1,533,333 men will find a spot on a major league roster.
While in the minor leagues, players are paid sub-poverty wages. Not using its tremendous power to help players in the minors is one of the Players Association's greatest mistakes.
In 2019, the last full season before the pandemic, MLB recorded an unprecedented $11 billion in revenue.
According to a 2007 study published in Population Research and Policy Review, 5,989 position players played 33,272 years of major league baseball from between 1902 and 1993. That puts the average career length at 5.6 years.
Most players spent their entire career under team control, never reaching free agency* (which comes after six years of service time). Fewer than half of all rookies stay in the majors long enough to play a fifth season and one in five position players end up lasting only one season.
Breaking the data down by eras:
Early Era (1902-1945: 4.3 seasons
Golden Age (1946-1968): 6.47 seasons
Modern Era (1969-1993): 6.85 seasons
I looked for information on what percentage of major league players reach free agency, but I came up empty.
Millionaires & Billionaires
Player X has $3 million (each * indicates $1 million):
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Owner Y has $3 billion (each * indicates $1 million):
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Fun Facts:
The height of a stack of 1,000,000 one dollar bills is 358 feet (about 1/15 of a mile).
The height of a stack of 1,000,000,000 one dollar bills is 67.9 miles.
The length of 1,000,000 one dollar bills laid end-to-end is 96.9 miles.
The length of 1,000,000,000 one dollar bills laid end-to-end is 96,900 miles (around the earth almost four times)
Spending $1,000,000 at a rate of $20/second would take 13 hours, 48 minutes.
Spending $1,000,000,000 at a rate of $20/second would take 578 days (1 year, 214 days).
There is a big difference between revenues and net income after expenses. The MLB franchises are not as profitable as many people think. In 2019, teams averaged $50m in net income per franchise which was much higher than previous years such as 2018 when it was an average profit of $39.6m. In 2020, there was a $60m average loss per franchise because of the pandemic. https://www.statista.com/statistics/193478/mlb-franchises-average-operating-income-since-2005/
ReplyDeleteWhen you understand this you can see why MLB cannot simply have runaway millions in salaries for those who are already mega, mega rich. Baseball salaries have been on fire like hyper-inflation for decades. It needs to cool off. I do like your fun facts. I wish there were a few more including how long it would take the average American to count his paycheck in $ compared to a $25m ball player or how long an average Americans salary in dollars would stretch in feet compared to that same $25m ball player. My point is that we are looking at many players making 10s of millions every year and complaining about it. It really doesn't play well to other people in the working class. One year at the minimum salary of a major leaguer would be like hitting the lottery for even PHD educated middle class worker including many doctors, lawyers, scientists and so on. Each team has quite a few players who get paid more than a Fortune 500 CEO. MLB players need to get real and stop complaining about their unbelievably good fortune.
Great article!
ReplyDeleteBullshit, lower the prices at concession stands and maybe ill care
ReplyDelete