When news leaked this weekend that the Pittsburgh Pirates—the losingest team in professional sports—have been turning a profit for the last three years, baseball fans were asked an uncomfortable question.

Is it acceptable for a team to lose games at an unprecedented rate and still make money?

And it got me thinking about the Indians, who are pretty good at losing themselves these days.  It would seem just that if a team loses games, then it should lose money too.  What other incentive would there be to win?  And if there’s no incentive to win, where does that leave us as fans?

Which brings me to our problem: what if the Indians are making money, rather than losing it?  Where does that put us, as fans of a team that we finance—both directly (through ticket sales) and indirectly (through tax-payer funded subsidies)?  Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the Indians are making money.  [Read more...]