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Originally Posted by Prison Bitch
OK then, by this logic Columbia MO is the same size Lawrence KS is. Ergo Mizzou should be the same baskeball market that Kansas is. Oh and they used to outrdraw Kansas in the early 80s when they were winning the Big 8 and Kansas was struggling. Proved my point right?
Cards tv deal is only small right now because they signed it early. When it comes up for renewal they'll get a good bump. I'll bet you any amount you have in the bank it will be significantly higher than what hte Royals get.
The Chiefs are a bad example because we've always struggled at the gate, save for a 10-year period with Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith. When you remove that time period, the other 40 years has been a real uphill battle to draw fans. STL Rams sold out with Warner & Faulk. Winning begets winning. And it's way easier to do in STL where there are more resources. $75m extra to spend on payroll matters and saying it doesn't is nonsense.
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If winning begets winning then the Royals wouldn't have been in this 25 year slump, dumbass. The Pirates would have also continued to run through the old NL East, and the Yankees would have never faltered even as the core four aged.
If you want to win in baseball, you need a few things: the first is a good owner. That means someone who is engaged, willing to spend but not overspend, someone who is patient but requires standards. The second thing you need is a good development system and the final is a good scouting system.
The Cardinals have all three. The Royals used to. The Yankees were fortunate enough to have it for a few years when Steinbrenner was banned from baseball, which is what allowed them to build the team that won 4/5 titles.
Right now the Royals don't have much of any of that. Like the Angels from a few years ago most of their prospects are extremely overrated. I'm not sure why that is; perhaps it's due to the national influence of Royals fans like Rob Neyer and Rany, although I doubt it. It's not a coincidence that there hasn't been a single Royals hitting prospect who hasn't disappointed when promoted to the big league club in at least five years, probably longer. Hell, Aviles is the last over-performer I can remember.
The Royals can't develop talent from within their system. Because of that, it probably appears that they can't draft. I think there is an element of truth to that (Hochevar, and a few others to lesser degrees), but it's hard to tell because a lot of that falls on the player development side.
Obviously, they Royals have spent little over the last two decades, but Kansas City has shown that they'll support a winner. Arrowhead was a ghost town in the 80s and then it became nearly impossible to get STs in the 90s. Did the nature of sports fans change in KC, or are they willing to support teams that appear competitive? KC had great attendance in the 70s and 80s. The town just didn't start hating baseball. The Chiefs are the
perfect example.
If you put Tampa's org in Kansas City they'd draw 2.5 million fans a year.
Ultimately, you're looking for excuses that make it easier to sleep, b/c the assumption that St. Louis has all of these ingrained advantages is just a fantasy. The Cardinals have more success than the Royals because they have better ownership, and that ownership has built a better franchise. There isn't a regional or financial roadblock, and there is no such thing as a small market team, only small market owners.