The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that nine MLB teams are in noncompliance with the league’s debt service rules, which are designed to make sure that teams have enough money to meet their financial obligations. These rules were put in place in the 2002 labor negotiations; it was primarily to make sure teams could meet payrolls.
Nine MLB Teams In Violation Of Debt Service Rules
... the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals, according to the people, none of whom were authorized to disclose the information.
The Ricketts family took on quite a bit of debt when they purchased the Cubs in 2009. However, Crain’s Chicago Business says their presence on the list may be “technical”:
I think the Cubs are on the list for technical reasons, however, and not because they have a serious problem. For instance, the list also includes the Phillies, who led the majors in attendance with an average of 45,000 fans per game.
Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice-president of labor relations, said in LA Times story: “To take a snapshot of the number of non-compliant clubs at a point in time can be very misleading. With one or two exceptions, we see how teams are going to be compliant again in the short term, so we’re not worried.“Manfred may just be trying to put a pretty face on things, but this certainly bears watching, given the financial troubles teams in other sports have faced.
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