TL;DR - Scouting Report
The Dodgers’ dominance has reignited the MLB salary cap debate. Would leveling the playing field ruin baseball’s excitement, tradition, and financial success? Explore why a salary cap could threaten America’s pastime.
Start the Rally: Tweet This Now!As the Dodgers dominate MLB with their star-studded roster and record-breaking attendance, calls for a salary cap grow louder – but would leveling the playing field kill the excitement, tradition, and financial success that make baseball America’s pastime?
Why a Salary Cap is Bad for Business & Baseball
A salary cap would be so detrimental to baseball to the point where it might threaten the game’s reputation as one of the four major sports of the world alongside football, basketball and hockey.
Fans and critics have intensified talks of implementing a salary cap to baseball after watching the Dodgers come off of a World Championship a season ago, and then following along as they have signed a plethora of players, building arguably the best candidate for a dynasty baseball has seen since the Yankees of the late 90s.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred seems to like what the Dodgers are doing, though, saying that the team has “gone out and done everything possible, always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible team on the field.” He then added that he thinks it’s great for the game.
Baseball Needs Star Power and a Dynasty to Thrive
It is.
As the old saying goes, “chicks dig the long ball,” or in other words, without fun and flashy teams to keep things interesting, attendance could really fall in the MLB.
The Dodgers were far and away the top team in attendance last season in the MLB. Here’s a look at the top 10 teams:
- Dodgers – 48,657 fans/game
- Yankees – 41,896
- Phillies – 41,527
- Padres – 41,117
- Braves – 37,647
- Cubs – 35,922
- Cardinals – 35,872
- Astros – 35,002
- Blue Jays – 33,101
- Giants – 33,096
Absent from the top 10 are the 2023 World Champion Texas Rangers (32,735), uber popular Boston Red Sox (32,838) and AL runner-up Cleveland Guardians (26,028).
The bottom five really takes a hit: Royals (20,473), White Sox (17,931), Rays (16,515), Marlins (13,425) and A’s (11,528).
Baseball on a warm summer night at Dodger Stadium almost seems like a tradition in Los Angeles. It doesn’t hurt that the Dodgers, as Manfred said, do what it takes to win at all costs.
Still, Dodger Stadium is only filling 86.8 percent of the stadium per game. The team filling most of its stadium? The Padres with 96.8 percent capacity, followed closely by the Phillies with 96.7 percent.
Those three teams are arguably the three best teams in the National League.
The Dodgers boast the super lineup featuring Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.
San Diego has Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis, Jr., and of course, Philadelphia has Bryce Harper and Trea Turner among others.
Small-market teams like the Rays, Marlins and A’s historically don’t spend big on bringing in free agents to build their teams up. Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations and former Rays GM, would famously fleece other teams in trading for players of preference to build the Rays into a contender.
He does it for the Dodgers now, but backed by what seems to be Guggenheim Baseball’s unlimited support.
MLB vs. NFL: The Viewership and Revenue Gap
In 2024 the average NFL game was attended by 69,520 fans. With the popularity of the NFL, large stadiums are necessary to hold that many fans.
The teams with the lowest attendance numbers are still over 95 percent filled to capacity due to having smaller stadiums.
CBS reports that advertisers paid close to $8 million on average for a 30-second commercial spot during Super Bowl LIX, where the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs.
In case you’re wondering, Nielsen reports that 127.7 million viewers watched the NFL’s championship game.
The 2024 World Series was the Fall Classic MLB had prayed for year after year. Sportico reports that Fox profied about $44.3 million in ad revenue per broadcast.
In total, that would bring the World Series revenue to roughly $221.6 million for the five games of the Dodgers’ conquest of the Yankees.
It was reported by MLB that an average of 15.8 million people in the United States viewed the World Series. This was in addition to an average of 12.1 million people in Japan.
Combined that’s just under 28 million, or just under 100 million fewer viewers than the Super Bowl.
This was two of baseball’s most storied teams facing off heads up. It was Freddie Freeman hitting a storied walk-off grand slam in Game 1.
Don’t forget the much-hyped Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge storyline.
There were five chances to tune in versus just one Super Bowl.
The World Series even had Ice Cube and Fat Joe to try and hype the games up.
Baseball just can’t compete with football, even if in many ways it can never be surpassed by the pigskin.
America’s pasttime has undergone many changes over the years, including the implementation of the pitch clock, universal DH and various in-game adjustments.
Whether you like them or not, baseball has been extremely liberal with the exception of one thing: a salary cap.
Baseball with a Salary Cap and Why Fans Wouldn’t Like It
The Dodgers surely aren’t “must see TV” with a salary cap. They probably resemble the Tampa Bay Rays a bit more.
Without any restrictions on the front office, the Dodgers more than likely continue to load up on the best executives in the game such as Friedman, Brandon Gomes and Farhan Zaidi among others.
However, stars like Betts and Freeman are elsewhere, probably in favor of budget-friendly players or top prospects such as Alex Freeland and Dalton Rushing.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it would present a more even league with much less flash.
Ohtani is probably still a Dodger, by the way. He probably convinces more players to take $2 million per season and deferring the rest of their salary until retirement.
The Dodgers Would Still Break Baseball Even With a Salary Cap
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the Dodgers are just smart enough to figure things out.
If the commissioner is saying that baseball’s best team is doing everything it can to put the best team possible on the field while staying within the rules, well, who can argue with that?
This team is outdrawing the next-best team by just under 7,000 fans per game, nearly seeing 4 million fans for an entire season.
While fans of teams that aren’t the Dodgers are likely to continue to clamor for a salary cap, it would kill baseball and zap whichever profits come with it.
Hope for an MLB Cellar Dwellar for a Mega World Series Matchup in the Future
If you want to see a small-market team rise up, wait until 2028 when the A’s move from Sacramento to Las Vegas and become the American League’s superpower.
Who else is down to go watch a Dodgers World Series game in Las Vegas?
MLB is salivating for that matchup.
One thing you will probably start to notice in coming years is the league’s reluctance to keep trading with the Dodgers when guys like Zyhir Hope, Jackson Ferris and Mike Sirota turn out to be hidden gems acquired in trades for players that could no longer find a spot on their roster.
If teams can generate the funds, they should be able to spend their money as they’d like, and they should be allowed to put a winning team on the field, exciting fans locally, nationally and globally.
Baseball deserves the very best and to be represented by a team filled with the very best talent in the sport.
Don’t count on a salary cap coming anytime soon, fans. It’s bad for the business of baseball.
Your Turn: Do you think a salary cap would save or ruin baseball? Tell us below in the comments!
Follow Dodgers Tailgate on social media for more Dodgers updates!
