Big Media begin to pick up on my point

"Yankees fans are paying the price for supporting baseball's highest payroll.

• The price of the box seats closest to the field at Yankee Stadium will jump by $40 to $150 next season, the team said Friday."

From AP tonight, it's a start, though it doesn't take the next step--that if the 2006 formula carries over to 2007, THE YANKEE FAN ACTUALLY SUPPORTS MUCH MORE THAN HIS OWN PAYROLL. HE PAYS FOR PLAYERS ON SEVERAL OTHER TEAMS, LIMOS AND SUMMER HOUSES OF OTHER OWNERS, AND

• SLUSH FUNDS USED TO SETTLE MLB-WIDE UNION GRIEVANCES. REMEMBER WHEN MLB, INC. AND THE PLAYERS UNION AGREED SO QUICKLY THIS YEAR, INCLUDING A FEW MILLION TO THE UNION FOR UNEXPRESSED EXPRESSED GRIEVANCES? THAT MONEY CAME FROM 'LEFTOVER COMPETITIVE BALANCE' FUNDS, ie. LUXURY TAX FUNDS ($34 million paid in 2006 by the Yankee fan).

The 2006 formula was approx. $200 million in payroll, $100 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax.

• But at least AP IS STARTING TO FIGURE OUT IT'S THE YANKEE FAN WHO PAYS. Of course, tickets are just 1 revenue source.

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