Major League Baseball threatens to walk away from Minor League Baseball

Manfred is a huge tool but this has been brewing for the last 5 or 6 years ... MLB wants to stop having to pay millions to the owners of the MiLB teams some of the owners in MiLB are scum and only reason they have a team is cause of the MLB money coming in... look at how many teams fold or move each year

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I always wondered about the logistics of owning a minor league team.

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Yeah it seems like in most places it would be a money loser if not for MLB subsidies

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It needs to be consolidated. Have a AA and AAA. Force young prospect to college.

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I agree that there are far too many leagues. Gotta keep those travel ball dreams alive. Also, too many rounds in the MLB draft.

For the spectator - minor league baseball is the biggest bargain around.

I probably attended over 200 games watching the Lower Class A Asheville Tourists. I rarely paid face value (which was cheap to start with) for a ticket. Many nights were free admission for seniors, other nights BOGO or free admission with canned goods donation, etc.

Parking was free.

On a good week night there might have been 1100 in attendance, and maybe 2500 on a weekend night.

The county gave the owners a sweetheart deal on stadium rental, and even paid for upgrades from time to time.

There is no way the Asheville Tourists could field a team without the continued support of their parent club, the Colorado Rockies paying player salaries and development costs.

I think more than 42 teams might be eliminated if the Majors have their way.

If they cant bring bv the MLB club any value, why keep pumping funds into it? College baseball is free for them.

Minor league development>college development and they have some quality control over the process

Once again. You are drastically over estimating the skill level of most collegiate players. 95% or more are not ready for AA to start

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Asheville Tourists

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McCormick Field is a tremendous place to watch a ball game.

I love going to minor-league games. Unfortunately I can envision MLB having z three level minor league system operating out of their spring training facilities (like the Rookie level Gulf Coast League).

I think it would be cool to own a minor league team. I wonder what the buy in is, or if you have to be connected.


Probably would suck though, to finally get a good player and he gets called up, while the bad players stay on your team and you cant get rid of them.

edit: for those who may be interested and have an extra $20 million laying around, I looked it up....the top 20 valued minor league teams are worth an average of $21 million and make $3 million/year. (memphis, sacremento, etc) Big leagues pay all the salaries, scouting, and player development. So the main income is 50% from ticket sales/concessions and 50% from sponsorships. A lot is dependent on what kind of facilities the owners can swindle the municipality into.

Found some “ballpark” estimates: Triple-A teams cost anywhere from $8 to $20 million; Double-A teams run between $6 to $15 million; Single-A $2 to $8 million; and Rookie League teams anywhere from $600,000 to $750,000.

Yes, I’ve heard owning a minor league franchise can be very profitable. Parent organization not only salaries and player development costs, but equipment as well. Bats, balls, uniforms, nets, everything.

All the owner has to do is take care of day to day operational cost. If you promote well and have a nice ballpark, courtesy of tax dollars of course, you can make some nice cash.