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Yankees’ Randy Levine calls out Rays, Marlins for ‘whining’ about money

By
Social Links for Christian Arnold
Published Oct. 15, 2023, 5:27 p.m. ET

Executives with the Miami Marlins or Tampa Rays may not be treating Yankees president Randy Levine to dinner any time soon. 

Levine criticized Florida’s two Major League Baseball franchises for their reliance on revenue sharing, which takes money from higher revenue-generating teams like the Yankees and redirects it to lower revenue-generating teams such as Miami and Tampa. 

The comments came during a panel discussion at Sportico’s Invest in Sports conference last week. 

“A lot more focus has to be on individual teams to do better and not just rely on revenue sharing,” Levine said, according to the Associated Press. “You can’t have two Florida teams averaging 15,000 fans. You can’t have it. You don’t go into an NFL stadium or an NBA arena and see that. 

New York Yankees President Randy Levine.
New York Yankees President Randy Levine. Getty Images

“And I think that there’s been a dependency issue that’s got to get better. … The commissioner has done an incredible job, but now it’s on individual teams. Instead of complaining and whining, ‘We need more money,’ you got to take some responsibility.”

It wasn’t the first time that the Yankees president had complained about the revenue-sharing system in the MLB and if there was ever a season that he would say it again, this past year would be it. 

The Yankees had the second-highest payroll in baseball and failed to make the playoffs, while both the Marlins and Rays payroll was toward the lower half of the league.

Jazz Chisolm and the Marlins were swept by the Phillies in the National League Wild Card Series.
Jazz Chisolm and the Marlins were swept by the Phillies in the National League Wild Card Series. Getty Images
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Josh Lowe (15) fails to make a catch in the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers during Game 2 of the Wild Card Series.
Rays outfielder Josh Lowe (15) fails to make a catch in the fourth inning against the Rangers during Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series. Getty Images

The Marlins and Rays did make the postseason but were dispatched pretty quickly in the wild-card round. 

Attendance has been a touchy subject in Miami and Tampa, where both franchises have struggled to get fans in the door.

The Marlins averaged 14,355 fans per game, which was second worst in all of baseball, while the Rays were 27th in attendance averaging 17,781 fans per game.

The Rays’ attendance had been in the spotlight during the postseason as well, with a partially empty stadium airing on national television as the Texas Rangers knocked them out in two games at Tropicana Field. 

MLB teams pool 48 percent of their revenue and that money is then split up evenly to each team.