Detroit Tigers

if you're in a large market (or even a smaller market that loves baseball), you know you can take on a very large payroll (and the luxury tax that goes with it) - and still be able to make a profit - because you know that if you have a contending team, you will be able very high ticket prices and still fill the stadium every game.

if you're in a small market, if you took on the same level of payroll and produced a strong team, you might still have trouble attracting a large number of fans, especially fans willing to pay high ticket prices - because there just aren't as nearly as many people in your market - or maybe these people just aren't into baseball. And you definitely couldn't take the risk of spending all the money and still having a lousy year.

On the other hand -- there's no excuse for the two Chicago teams not being in the post-season almost every year. One of the biggest markets out there.

and what's the deal with the Nationals? The DC market is rather large. No excuse for that team ever finishing much below .500 unless they have lots of injuries.

We continually hear that teams can't spend because they are in small markets so I looked up US TV makets by size and I thought that some of our assumptions might be false. (http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/us_hh_by_dma.asp if you are interested)

For example San Franciso/ Oakland (#6) is ahead of Boston, Atlanta, Washington, Houston and Detroit (#7-11). Similarly Tampa-St Pete (#14) and Minneapolis (#15) Cleveland (#18) are ahead of St. Louis (#21). I think some would would be more competitive if they invested in their product instead of misreading books like Moneyball and deciding that they cannot compete.

Originally posted by Melanerpes
[if you're in a small market, if you took on the same level of payroll and produced a strong team, you might still have trouble attracting a large number of fans, especially fans willing to pay high ticket prices - because there just aren't as nearly as many people in your market - or maybe these people just aren't into baseball. And you definitely couldn't take the risk of spending all the money and still having a lousy year.

My Reds are a small market team, but I think only by their own choosing. At one time, there were Reds fans all across the nation because of the Big Red Machine. Then as time went on, they just flushed this fan support down the commode. They could have aired games on TV, such as they do every Cub game, and other such promotional efforts to capitalize on their popularity and make themselves a big market team. After all, they are surrounded by Kentucky, which has no team, and Indiana, which has no team, and northern Ohio, which has the Indains. LOL. Instead, they chose to focus on the fact that they were not a major city, hence, they could NEVER be a big market team. More is the pity. Now they are doomed to decreasing fan support and now mandatory reduction of talent on the team because of decreasing ticket sales. In fact, they are going to send the same group of guys out next year from what I hear minus some big salaries. I anticipate this vicious cycle to continue until they just evaporate into nothing.

Yep, I just can't wait till next year!!! Problem is, I won't be watching.

Originally posted by whodey
My Reds are a small market team, but I think only by their own choosing. At one time, there were Reds fans all across the nation because of the Big Red Machine. Then as time went on, they just flushed this fan support down the commode. They could have aired games on TV, such as they do every Cub game, and other such promotional efforts to capitalize on th ...[text shortened]... into nothing.

Yep, I just can't wait till next year!!! Problem is, I won't be watching.

Good.

Originally posted by no1marauder
Good.

How about those Yankees? Admit it, you are back on the band wagon despite them tearing down your place of worship.

Originally posted by whodey
How about those Yankees? Admit it, you are back on the band wagon despite them tearing down your place of worship.

No, I'm not; I haven't watched a single game of their's this year and won't do so in the playoffs. At this point, I think they are most likely to win the World Series, but I'm not rooting for them and could care less. It would be nice if the Twins knocked them out in the 1st round.

Originally posted by no1marauder
No, I'm not; I haven't watched a single game of their's this year and won't do so in the playoffs. At this point, I think they are most likely to win the World Series, but I'm not rooting for them and could care less. It would be nice if the Twins knocked them out in the 1st round.

Good for you!! Apparently there is one soul left in the world king George can't buy, of course, you realize you are the last one remaining don't you?

Originally posted by quackquack
We continually hear that teams can't spend because they are in small markets so I looked up US TV makets by size and I thought that some of our assumptions might be false. (http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/us_hh_by_dma.asp if you are interested)

For example San Franciso/ Oakland (#6) is ahead of Boston, Atlanta, Washington, Houston and Detroit ...[text shortened]... their product instead of misreading books like Moneyball and deciding that they cannot compete.

using the market size data you posted

I consider large markets to be anything >2000 (NY-LA-Chi-Phi-Dal-SFO-Bos-Atl-DC-Hou)
I consider medium markets to be anything betw 1500-2000 (Det-Pho-Sea-Tam-Min-Den-Mia-Cle) I also put Tor in here, as well as the Nats due to them mainly being in montreal.
I consider small markets to be anything <1500 (StL-Pit-Bal-SD-KC-Cin-Mil) although Bal probably draws some fr DC's market

I looked at how many times each team has made it to post-season in the past 15 yrs (since The Great Strike)

large market teams averaged 5.9 appearances apiece -- mid market teams 2.7 -- and small market teams 2.3

BEST teams by market size

large: Yankees (14), Atlanta (11), Boston (9)
medium: Cleveland (7), Minnesota (5), Seattle (4), Arizona (4)
small: St Louis (8), San Diego (4)

WORST teams by market size

large: Mets (3), Cubs (3), Philadelphia (3), Texas (3)
medium: Expos/Nats (0), Toronto (0), Detroit (1), Tampa Bay (1)
small: Kansas City (0), Pittsburgh (0), Cincinnati (1), Milwaukee (1)