[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Scruff

Get the underlying data correct first (which shouldn't be that hard, I mean I found what I put in that spreadsheet above in a few hours).

Last year, I did a lot of research into the financials of baseball, both major and minor. I came up with a fair amount of stuff (both online and offline). What you have in your spreadsheet is really just scratching the surface in terms of realism and detail—there's lots more that could be done in terms of a system in OOTP which encompasses both.

Here's a sampling of some of the data I've collected.


From the book Baseball and Billions by Andrew Zimbalist:

Average MLB team revenue

1929 = $758,324
1933 = $430,211
1939 = $760,980
1943 = $678,141
1946 = $1,719,322
1950 = $2,002,217
1980 = $12,795,400
1982 = $16,224,000
1984 = $23,503,600
1986 = $28,701,400
1988 = $36,854,000
1990 = $51,715,400

Average MLB player salary

1898 = $2,200
1910 = $2,500
1929 = $7,531
1933 = $6,009
1939 = $7,306
1943 = $6,423
1946 = $11,294
1950 = $13,288
1951 = $13,300


From the book Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports by James Quirk and Rodney D. Fort:

Aggregate MLB radio and television income, 1962-1991, in thousands of dollars

Year    Local  National   Total
-------------------------------
1962   12,775    4,000   16,775
1963   13,000    5,200   18,200
1964   14,325    7,000   21,325
1965   15,970    9,700   25,670
1966   17,335    9,750   27,085
1967   17,125   11,800   28,925
1968   18,340   12,700   31,040
1969   21,690   15,500   37,190
1970   21,850   16,240   38,090
1971   22,450   18,000   40,450
1972   23,085   18,000   41,085
1973   24,405   18,000   42,405
1974   25,245   18,000   42,245
1975   26,200   18,000   44,200
1976   26,700   23,000   49,700
1977   28,900   23,000   51,900
1978   29,300   23,000   52,300
1979   31,500   23,000   54,500
1980   39,000   41,000   80,000
1981   48,100   41,000   89,100
1982   64,600   53,000  117,600
1983   94,700   59,000  153,700
1984  105,400  163,000  268,400
1985  115,800  161,500  277,300
1986  140,100  181,500  321,600
1987  154,400  196,500  350,900
1988  157,600  206,500  364,100
1989  232,000  246,500  478,500
1990  250,000  362,500  612,500
1991  252,500  367,500  615,000

The Oct. 31, 1958, issue of The Sporting News reported on monthly salaries in the minors, as determined by the Celler report.

1950 MONTHLY SALARY BY CLASSIFICATION

     Lowest  Highest  Average   Median
--------------------------------------
MLB   $893   $16,071   $2,373   $1,964
AAA   $200   $ 4,000   $  876   $  850
AA    $300   $ 4,200   $  639   $  600
A     $100   $ 1,555   $  391   $  350
D     $ 80   $ 1,000   $  192   $  165


1950 MONTHLY SALARY BY LEAGUE

Class  League                 Average   Median  Length of Season
----------------------------------------------------------------
 ML    Major League Baseball   $2,373   $1,964     5.6 months
----------------------------------------------------------------
 AAA   Pacific Coast League    $  978   $  917     6.5 months
 AAA   American Association    $  814   $  750     4.9 months
 AAA   International League    $  832   $  800     4.8 months
----------------------------------------------------------------
 AA    Texas League            $  641   $  600     5.1 months
 AA    Southern Association    $  654   $  550     5.0 months
----------------------------------------------------------------
 A     Eastern League          $  432   $  400     4.6 months
 A     Western League          $  391   $  350     4.9 months

The TSN issue only listed the full season 1950 figures for the Major Leagues ($5,000 minimum; $90,000 maximum; $13,288 average; $11,000 median). I calculated the monthly rates by simply taking the annual rates and dividing by the 5.6 month long MLB season.