Why Larry Dolan Needs to Sell the Cleveland Indians

[JMcCurry08]

Does News Corp have interest in buying the team Optomist, has your source heard anything about the team being for sale

[Pyro]

Well that's less exciting than I thought it would be. I wanted mass firings, show cancellations, etc.

[BMAN]

People are believing this guy?!

[b00bie]

People are believing this guy?!

Some people will believe anything.

[The Voice]

Does News Corp have interest in buying the team Optomist, has your source heard anything about the team being for sale

Anything is possible, but as of right now that is not happening. Again my source might be on the wrong end of the equation as far as what the News Corp is doing or has planned.

Some people will believe anything.

I really have no reason to lie about it on a message board. Believe what you want. I've posted things that were right about the tribe/cavs and things that were wrong, but it has always been what has been told to me through legit sources.

[bushwick_bill]

Anything is possible, but as of right now that is not happening. Again my source might be on the wrong end of the equation as far as what the News Corp is doing or has planned.



I really have no reason to lie about it on a message board. Believe what you want. I've posted things that were right about the tribe/cavs and things that were wrong, but it has always been what has been told to me through legit sources.

I think Boobie was being a bit sarcastic.

[Pyro]

Fuck News Corporation. Have Disney buy them. They are buying a lot of shit lately.

[Nom]

Welp - Forbes just released their latest report that says the Royals, Tribe and Cubs had the highest earnings last year.

Before everyone freaks out, let me put something in perspective about how accurate these numbers are:

The YES Network for the Yankees earned $570 million last year. The Yankees' payroll was $200 million. Do you really believe the Indians are making more than the Yankees?

Or for a non-team-owned station, the Rangers made $150 million solely in TV revenue and had a payroll of $120 million. Do you think the Indians made more than them?

There is no way that large market teams are willing to put so much money into revenue sharing that the small market teams are making a LARGER profit than them. It makes zero sense.

[Huber.]

The big talk now is that the Dolan's are setting up the team to sell it. Thoughts?

[Pyro]

Hmm. Certainly an interesting thought. They pump money into the team, and get all that money back when the sale happens.

[Nom]

Not sure I understand the logic - anyone buying the team would now be on the hook for all those contracts. Not sure that makes the team more appealing to potential buyers.

[b00bie]

Not sure I understand the logic - anyone buying the team would now be on the hook for all those contracts. Not sure that makes the team more appealing to potential buyers.

Beat me to it.

If this was a plan to sell, it's a bad one.

[Huber.]

Who would want to buy the team before? They could be trying to polish this turd of a franchise. Maybe more fans start to come out now making it more appealing to those interested?

[b00bie]

Who would want to buy the team before? They could be trying to polish this turd of a franchise. Maybe more fans start to come out now making it more appealing to those interested?

By tying millions of dollars into players?

Nah, fans aren't coming out in droves for that. Especially if this team is as mediocre as they look.

[macbdog]

Man, some people just refuse to think.

Yes, a team at it's lowest value point, with no salaries, IS more attractive than a team that just made 115m in salary commitments. This has been proven time and time and time and time and time and time again with sports franchises over the last decade. Yes, for an owner looking to come in and make a splash, having the flexibility to make that splash means alot.

For someone to swoop in and buy the team now would be, well, a Larry Dolan move. It would be just like when Dolan bought the team from Jacobs. Said owner would have little room to add talent, as this offseason's roster moves ate up the extra revenue sharing and brand new TV money, along with the salary recovered from the jettisoning of Hafner, Sizemore, etc. This is the worst time to buy the Indians.

Hell, the huge amounts of salary wiggle room are two reasons why even the Browns and Cavs were such attractive options. Gilbert paid a premium for the Cavs not just because of LBJ, but because the Cavs also had no salary commitments coming up. He could make an immediate splash, spend tons of money to gain the fans' good will (money that was going to be spent regardless of owner), and come out looking shiny. Anyone buying the Tribe? Would look the opposite.

And all of this nonsense precludes the obvious- Paul Dolan is the owner now. Paul Dolan's job for the last, what, 9-10 years, has been with the Tribe. THIS is his career. THIS is what he has been working towards for a decade now. He is an active owner. Why the hell would he then jettison the team? This makes absolutely no sense.

Also, why is anyone quoting anything off of sports talk radio? Short of an actual source- from a commentator with a history of using actual sources- why is this being used as the basis for evaluating anything? Sports talk hosts need to fill air time, and this sounds like the classic case. And frankly, most of their ideas to fill airtime are moronic and intended to spark talk, regardless of whether that talk is intelligible or actually adds anything.

This is just nonsense. The time for anyone to want to buy was when the team was at its' lowest. Now? With STO already sold and the extra income already allocated, it would be idiotic. A no-win situation, like when Dolan bought a revenue-maxed team. Chalk this up to another pointless rumor sponsored by the society-stupifying phenomenon that is sports talk radio.