The Blue Jackets play to 90% capacity. They aren’t part of the problem. The fans in Columbus are great.
I didn’t say the fans were bad, although I see the teams has never done anything. I was just talking about over-expansion. Pretend I said Atlanta if you like.
Your’re right, I forgot Washington, although they are a product of bad management and ownership transition as much as anything. When their new stadium comes on line they have a good chance of becomming a power, not a bottom feeder.
Florida has trouble competing because they play in a football stadium and no one goes to their games. Even still, they have won 2 world series by buying a team and selling it off for prospects right after.
Plus we have to make a distinction between teams that are bad becasue they are incapable of competing and teams that are just bad lately. The only two teams that are really incapable of competing are Tampa and KC, and I would argue that KC is debateable, having a cheap and shortsighted owner.
Even taking your list, that’s less teams in baseball with a chance at the start of the season than in the NBA. If we had to make an NBA list we could have Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Charlotte, New Orleans, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Sacramento, Seattle, and Toronto. When is the last time a team came out of nowhere to win a championship in the NBA like the Marlins, or White Sox did?
Now, I realize that the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, and Cubs are in their own league money wise. But things are closer than you think. Smaller teams like the Twins, Indians, White Sox, Braves, Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Blue Jays, and Marniers aren’t that far off. The Brewers are in first place this year.
Through revenue sharing, the Yankees and Red Sox are enriching the rest of the league to a significant degree, to say nothing of the money that come from playing them. I would actually contend that those two teams are great for baseball, as a whole, increasing its income, visibility, and fan appeal. Though I admit, I may be biased based on where I live, having teams in big markets be good is great for a sport. See the NHL as an example of what happens when teams in NY, Chicago, LA, Toronto, Boston, etc suck.