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BUDGET STRATEGY
A big part of your success in Baseball
Mogul is the ability to balance your team's budget. Not only do you have
to worry about your players' salaries, you also have to deal with the
salaries of your medical staff and scouts, funding for your farm teams,
setting ticket at your stadium, and even negotiating television broadcast
rights. All of these financial factors will affect your path toward the
Mogul Hall of Fame.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember in planning your budget is
that, in the end, the players on the field determine your success. If
your team wins, more fans will come to see them, and slightly higher ticket
prices won't dissuade them (more on this later). And of course, the more
money your team brings in, the more you can afford to pay your players,
which allows you to keep your higher priced free agent stars, which allows
you to keep winning.
That said, there are many things to consider in the early going when money
is tight. Getting off to a good financial start will help you set off
down the road to baseball prosperity.
EXPENSES
PLAYER SALARIES
You should expect to have a bit
of disparity between your players salaries. Some of your players will
be making megabucks, while some will be working for the league minimum.
So what happens when the player making the minimum has a stellar year
and demands an enormous pay increase, while at the same time your megabucks
player is under contract for 4 more years? Will you have the money to
keep them both?
A good rule of thumb is to avoid high salaries whenever possible. Obviously,
some players are worth paying the money for, but ideally, you'd like to
keep your team payroll down. Keep an eye on your Triple A system for rookies
who can adequately fit roles currently occupied by higher priced players.
Scan the free agent pool periodically - you can often find a bargain player
who will perform well while you wait for a rookie superstar to develop.
And don't be afraid to trade away your higher priced players for lower
priced ones if you're strapped for cash.
Pitchers command more lucrative contracts than position players, so expect
to pay more for really top flight pitchers. It's harder to get away with
a rotation full of bargain basement pitchers than it is a lineup of lower
priced hitters.
Also remember that if you want to cut anyone, you must pay him the rest
of his contract in a lump sum. That means that players with long term
contracts can be detrimental to the team by costing large sums of money,
taking up a needed roster spot (if you don't have the cash to buy out
his contract), or both. Usually, locking up your superstars for the long
haul isn't a bad idea, but pay attention to such factors as age and history
of injury when you sign these players. If your superstar is going to be
42 at the end of his long contract, his last few years may not be worth
the money they're going to cost you.
When dealing with free agents from the free agent pool, it sometimes pay
to wait out a player. If he's demanding a high salary and remains unsigned
for awhile, he may lower his salary demands and even the length of the
contract he's seeking. But be careful - if you wait for too long, another
sharp general manager may sign that player out from under your nose!
The rule here is don't be cheap, be smart. Spend your salary money wisely
and you'll have a winning, money making team for many years.
OTHER TEAM EXPENSES:
Other team expenses that you
control are divided among three categories: Medical Staff, Farm System,
and Scouting Team:
a. Medical Staff
The amount you spend on your medical staff determines how serious the
injuries your players receive are and how long it takes them to recover.
If you have a lot of higher priced players with long contracts, it's important
to pay your medical staff well. If you are in a rebuilding phase and have
players you feel are not worth protecting, then lowering the pay of your
medical staff for a season or two might free up some cash to help with
the rebuilding effort. In general, though, it's a good policy to keep
your medical staff happy.
b. Farm System
The amount you spend on your farm system determines the number and caliber
of minor leaguers you have available at the Triple A level. Your team
building philosophy will determine your spending here. If you believe
in building a team via free agency and trading for established veterans,
then your farm system is probably not as important to you. If, on the
other hand, you believe in developing rookies for the future of your team,
you'll probably want to make a considerable investment in your farm system.
c. Scouting
The amount you spend on your scouting team determines the accuracy of
the scouting reports you receive. If you feel that you are capable of
scouting players on your own by studying their statistics, then you can
probably skimp a bit on the scouting expenses. But if you consider the
word of the scouts to be law, you'll want to put more money into the scouting
team to get the most accurate reports possible. Note that if you underpay
your scouting staff, they won't out and out lie to you, but they may miss
the call on a potential superstar or super
flop! Also, if you cut your scouting too severely (to the point that you
are among the worst in the league) this can even impact the quality of
your new AAA players every year, as your organization will not have the
skills to select the best players for advancement.
INCOMING CASH
TICKET SALES
Finding just the right price
to charge for tickets is one of the keys to financial success. Charge
too much, and fans will stay away. Charge too little, and people will
flock to your stadium while your team stays poor.
The "Other Team" button is useful here because it lets you compare
your prices to successful teams with a similar fan base. You can compare
Fan Loyalty and your city's Per Capita Income to that of other teams to
find the ones most similar to your situation. Then, take a look at their
ticket prices and see how their ticket income compares with yours. This
information can give you ideas about how to adjust the ticket prices at
your own stadium.
You can also use broadcast contracts to drive people to your stadium.
If you lower ticket prices and blackout games locally, people might be
more inclined to come to the stadium in person. See the section on Broadcast
Contracts for more information.
BROADCAST CONTRACTS
Negotiating television rights
is another way to bring in money for your team. There are three types
of television broadcast contracts you can sign your team to:
a. Standard Broadcast
A Standard Broadcast contract allows your team's games to be broadcast
on regular local television. Depending on your fan base, this contract
can generate different results. For example, fickle fans might be content
to sit at home and watch your games at home if the team isn't doing so
well, thus keeping more fans away from your stadium. Fans do not have
to pay to see your team on television if you have a Standard Broadcast
contract. The revenue you get is from the station with the rights to the
broadcasts. While you won't get rich quick with this type of contract,
it's the most popular with the fans, who can decide to stay home and root
for the team if for some reason they can't make it to the stadium.
b. Pay-Per-View
A Pay-Per-View contract means that in order for your fans to see your
team on television, they must have cable television and pay extra money
to the cable company for each game they wish to see. You get both a flat
payment and a percentage of the money taken in from the fans who pay to
see your team play. A Pay-Per-View contract is a good way to raise a lot
of money quickly, but use these contracts with caution. A Pay-Per-View
contract may be viewed as tyrannical by your fans, who will then stay
away from your stadium, affecting your overall revenue negatively.
c. Blackout
Blackout contracts mean that your team's home games will be "blacked
out", or not broadcast locally, unless tickets to a particular game
sell out. Because fans can't count on seeing the game on television, this
type of contract is likely to send them to the stadium, which in turn
helps your ticket and sales. Like Pay-Per-View contracts, blackouts are
a good way to make a lot of money quickly, but also like Pay-Per-View
contracts, fans who can't invite their buddies over to watch the game
aren't likely to warm to the team and may lose interest, causing your
fan base to diminish.
It takes patience and skill to balance your income against your expenses.
Finding the right mix of prices, salaries, staff expenses, and broadcast
expenses will take much experimentation, but it's crucial to your ascent
to the level of Baseball Mogul.
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