ke Minneapolis Minnesota, Oakland California and Miami Florida are considered small markets while cities that are of comparable size are considered large markets like St. Louis, San Francisco, and Houston. The real difference between these cities is the amount of revenue the teams can generate. Teams generate revenue through ticket sales, merchandise, local television revenues, advertising, and official sponsorships as well as various other revenue producing activities. The major difference between the low revenue clubs and the high revenue clubs is revenue generated by ticket sales and local television revenues. Television revenues vary widely according to the individual markets, but the teams that seem to do the best with local television revenues are the teams that are perennially competitive. The New York Yankees, winners of four of the last five World Series Championships, receive local television revenues of close to $60 million per year. On the other hand some of the small market teams receive less than $10 million per year from local television. Another major factor that separates the high revenue franchises from the low revenue clubs is ticket revenue and it is not just because the large market teams charge higher prices for their tickets. The large market teams do charge more for their tickets, but they also sell more tickets because they put a better product on the field. It is all a vicious cycle that helps the rich clubs get richer and keeps the poor teams perpetually poor. However, there is a way out of the revenue cellar that is helping more small market teams gain a solid foothold towards becoming competitive. These teams are building new fan friendly, old-style stadiums that give the fans more than just a ballgame but instead an entire entertainment experience for the whole family. These stadiums have museums, restaurants, swimming pools, video game arcades, and specialty shops. The movement towards new retro-style ball...
