Although the way the game is financed will most likely change, regardless of whether or not we agree with it.  Unless we find a way to change with it we might very well get left behind.  Don’t want that either.

Besides, just because we head in a new direction doesn’t necessarily mean that we will turn into another “evil empire” in the game.  After all, there’s more than one way to go about it.

Yeah, that is what I was thinking.  Both of the “big market” big spenders(Yanks and Sox) each have their own networks with a national fanbase.  One thing this year has shown is Phillies fans across the country crawling out of the woodwork, which could be a potent subscriber base for a YES type channel, or perhaps an internet broadcasting venture off Phillies.com

Having a corporation that has various interrelated entities (a tv network, a concessions company, etc….) under it’s umbrella, of which the baseball team is but one component, that work together synergistically is really where the big money comes from. 

With each ancillary entity they own and control, (if the Phils could get their own version of the YES Network, for example), they would generate another stream of revenue that could then be infused into the ballclub.

Love the talk between you two, keep it up.

Do either of you think that with this success, the Phillies might find a way into a better local media deal which can also produce more revenue.  Maybe if they strongly encourage CSN to become distributable via Satelite, then the additional subscription revenues generated via the Phillies rapidly increasing national profile and popularity could help them in the future.  What do you think?

1) While it certainly will generate extra revenue, inflation will take a chunk out of it each year.  Therefore, it will be incremental——not anywhere near the bump we would get if we were able to increase attendance by 10,000 per game, for example.  

2) We would need a huge increase in ticket prices in order to get our payroll into the high rent district.  I doubt we’ll see that, lest we have the same problem filling our park that the Yanks and Mets are having (with new stadiums no less).  

Taken together, this tells me that our payroll will also only increase incrementally.

I absolutely agree with you that the Phils should “pour that extra revenue into the draft and international market”.  I spoke about keeping the farm system well stocked, but I did not mention those things specifically.

Finally, just in case you think I’ve gone soft, even though I’ve come around and accepted that the Phils payroll equates pretty well to, and has increased right along with,  their revenue, I still say that they, along with every other team, under report their revenue, but then what big company doesn’t do that, right? 

While we are set in the OF and C for the long term and Utley is signed through 2013, we have shortages in the inf. Expect more trades over the of season sending pitching prosepects (low level guys) for low-middle level inf help

I feel like that is going to be a major competitive edge for the teams that are consistently drafting in later stages of the amateur draft and need to devise ways to compensate for those shortfalls.  Pete, do you have any intelligence about the Phillies latin american presence?  I feel like a lot of those deals are shady as hell and the “agents” for those dominican guys can be seedy and tough to negotiate with (or the players are way older than they claim to be).

That story about the Nationals earlier this year with Jose Rijo and Bowden resigning was WAY under the radar and deserved more than just some “outside the lines” piece.  The problem is that all of those latin american deals are just so shady, its difficult to cover them compared to say sending Rachel Nichols to Hattiesburg, MS for 3 months to monitor Brett Favre’s daily activities.