Is it problematic for league functionality for average profit to be negative?

Doc_Giggle · 03-26-2021, 04:15 PM

So in the financials of my fictional league, I have the following values (I've scaled everything down from MLB salaries to reflect a more middle-class and relatable league experience lol).

Average Team Revenue: $2,670,000
Approx. Revenue Range: $1.7m-4.3m
Avg. Budget: $2,523,000
Avg. Player Payroll: $2,006,000
Avg. Team Expenses: $734,000
Avg. Profit: $-70,000

That can't be good, can it? Does this lead to more teams just giving up on even considering being competitive? How does this affect league health and what would an ideal profit number look like where teams aren't all just over-flowing with extra cash to do whatever they want with (I still have some small market teams that gotta scrimp and save), but not so broke that there's no use in trying?

KBLover · 03-26-2021, 04:59 PM

I don't know if negative on average will do anything detrimental, but I would move it up so that the average is +$70,000 instead of $70,000 in the hole.

That shouldn't mess with your scaling too much and maybe avoid any potential issues without giving tons of cash around.

Matt Arnold · 03-26-2021, 05:19 PM

Fyi a lot of the time, there ends up being a little more money in the game, because the projection there doesn't really factor in playoff revenues.

Of course, there's many other factors. If you have more free-spending owners, sometimes they'd push higher on some expenses. Or maybe your league doesn't spend it's total on the draft. Or player salaries are actually more of a tough estimate.

It looks like you're close to even there, so I would not expect major issues. If teams were projected to lose half their budget or something, that would be a much bigger issue.

03-26-2021, 04:15 PM	#1
Doc_Giggle Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 38	Is it problematic for league functionality for average profit to be negative? So in the financials of my fictional league, I have the following values (I've scaled everything down from MLB salaries to reflect a more middle-class and relatable league experience lol). Average Team Revenue: $2,670,000 Approx. Revenue Range: $1.7m-4.3m Avg. Budget: $2,523,000 Avg. Player Payroll: $2,006,000 Avg. Team Expenses: $734,000 Avg. Profit: $-70,000 That can't be good, can it? Does this lead to more teams just giving up on even considering being competitive? How does this affect league health and what would an ideal profit number look like where teams aren't all just over-flowing with extra cash to do whatever they want with (I still have some small market teams that gotta scrimp and save), but not so broke that there's no use in trying?

03-26-2021, 04:59 PM	#2
KBLover All Star Reserve Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 580	I don't know if negative on average will do anything detrimental, but I would move it up so that the average is +$70,000 instead of $70,000 in the hole. That shouldn't mess with your scaling too much and maybe avoid any potential issues without giving tons of cash around.

03-26-2021, 05:19 PM	#3
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,833	Fyi a lot of the time, there ends up being a little more money in the game, because the projection there doesn't really factor in playoff revenues. Of course, there's many other factors. If you have more free-spending owners, sometimes they'd push higher on some expenses. Or maybe your league doesn't spend it's total on the draft. Or player salaries are actually more of a tough estimate. It looks like you're close to even there, so I would not expect major issues. If teams were projected to lose half their budget or something, that would be a much bigger issue.