Oh, I've done it, too, at least in my head: The Steelers put forth X amount toward the Pittsburgh Food Bank, a couple days after the Pirates put forth Y amount a couple days after the Penguins put forth Z amount. And I'll wonder why one put out more or less than the other. Or who went to the scene to help. Or who promoted it with the most vigor.
It's silly. It's stupid.
Geared as we are as sports geeks to always check the score, and especially in the absence of sports, I suppose it's inevitable. We compare the donations, the social media initiatives and yeah, maybe above all, when any of those teams takes any kind of action related to their employees or part-time venue workers.
I'm only here to share that I really hate it. Even that last one, being the most serious among them.
The first real local flap on this front, predictably, originated at 115 Federal just yesterday when it became at least small-ish national news that the Pirates, while committing to keep paying their employees' full salaries through May 31, are temporarily suspending their matching contributions to 401(k) retirement funds.
I did say small-ish, right?
The Mets, Padres and Rays are slashing pay and/or furloughing employees. At least seven other teams are openly considering it. But the Pirates drop a 3 percent matching contribution for what likely will amount to a month or two, and that's somehow the headline plucked from the pack?
I know lots of people who work for the team. I'm in touch with them regularly even through this. And you'll have to take my word for it here that, if they were given a choice between being paid right now and fretting over a fraction of a percentage of a pension they can't collect until decades from now ... yeah, you'd want the same thing.
Ideally, of course, it'd be avoidable?
The standard talk-show-caller burp on this subject would be that Bob Nutting should cough up that cash on his own. Because, you know, he's a 'billionaire.' Which he isn't. He's a hell of a lot richer than you or me, but I have it on excellent authority -- meaning from people who aren't his pals -- that he's nowhere near that status and won't be until the day he sells the franchise. If anything, they insist, being independently undercapitalized has been among his biggest issues as owner.
Another stance might be that either the Pirates or Major League Baseball, which just passed a guideline allowing all 30 teams to cut pay and benefits, should pay everyone full wages no matter how long this crisis continues, as well as covering all minor-leaguers' wages.
And on this one, I'll single out baseball from the other sports. Because it really is in a different situation than the NFL, NHL or NBA.
The NFL just conducted a robust virtual draft and contributed millions to coronavirus causes, both to much fanfare, happens to be in the best position of all, and not just because it's the richest. Football's several months into its offseason and won't have a single player's check to pass out until September at the soonest. For the most part, it's just ... the offseason. Not much fiscally changes.
The NHL and NBA just made it through nearly 90 percent of their respective regular seasons and, in each case, they reached rapid pacts with their players to cover the remainder of those costs with very few complications. When their playoffs begin, players will only get paid a set stipend for advancing through a given round, not their regular salaries.
Baseball's at the worst of both edges. No team's collected a worthwhile penny in 2020 and, in fact, a plan's expected by week's end to refund existing ticket purchases. Nothing at the gate. Nothing from the various broadcast entities yet. Nothing from sponsorships at ballparks. Zippo.
Ben Cherington, who continues to show he's anything but Neal Huntington in how bluntly he speaks, put it well yesterday in a conference call: "This has turned our business upside down. Revenues aren’t coming in. Cash is still going out. A big focus of ours in recent weeks has been to try to figure out how to solve for that problem in a way that minimizes impact on our people, their families and our core activities.”
Call him a Nutting crony or whatever other unimaginative term comes to mind, but he's undeniably correct. Not just for the Pirates, but for all 30 teams. And as a result, baseball was always going to have to take the first, hardest actions.
Just as we're all reminded now that sports businesses employ common folks and not just multimillion-dollar athletes, maybe it's worth being equally aware that sports businesses are ... businesses.
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