Why Larry Dolan Needs to Sell the Cleveland Indians

[Nom]

Why do I keep hearing about the free passes the Browns kept getting? Browns attendance has been on a steady decline for the last 5-6 years and fans trashed the shit out of them publicly. Dumbass Big Dawg or whatever the hell he is went and met with Randy Lerner to bitch about the team. The Browns are roundly booed by the fans that do attend games and there's been a ton of animosity towards specific players and coaches for years now.

The Browns have not been getting a free pass. Even with the new FO and supposed infusion of talent, attendance has decreased the last couple years. Dolan and Indians defenders continue to push this legend that Browns fans are like some kind of smiling, drooling lobotomy patients who don't respond negatively when the team sucks.

Not that it should really matter anyways. You're either good at what you do or you're not. On paper, no Cleveland team appears to be good at what it does right now. Let's see if the Browns and Cavs can prove otherwise. My expectations are high for their management and their new players because I can actually see what the plan is and recognize positive on field performance by the players drafted and acquired by those teams...so we'll see what happens. If it turns out the Browns blew the 2011 and 2012 drafts...then they'll get trashed and attendance will continue to drop. If the Cavs blew the Waiters and Zeller picks...same thing. But my expectations remain high for both franchises in terms of acquisition and development of talent. Good records should follow.

My expectations are low for everything surrounding the Indians as they have been for the last 5 years. The plan is identifiable- as it's the same thing all small market teams do. Problem is...the execution has been brutally bad and ownership is unrelatable.

There is a difference in 'attendance has been declining' and 'worst attendance in the league'.

The Browns family night - not even a preseason game - outdrew the Indians' game yesterday. You can say 'this is a football town' but that only re-enforces the problem the Dolans have - as long as there is football in town, there is a very real, and very low ceiling on how much they'll ever be able to draw.

The bolded portion is dead-on, though.

 

[DaNewCavs]

Who is the player that the casual fan can identify with and root for the Indians?

For the Cavs it was Lebron and now Irving
For the Browns it is Haden, Richardson, and Weedon.
Who is that person for the Indians? Maybe Kipnis. At one time it was Sizemore, but he hasn't been healthy enough to stay on the field longer than a minute.

At one time it used to be Ramirez, Thome, Sandy Alomar, Vizquel, Lofton. I can't blame the Dolan's for not being able to resign Thome and Ramirez because any big market club was going to outbid the Tribe for their services and we can only hope they would have taken discounted prices. However, not resigning Sandy Alomar and Vizquel were mistakes, not that they were going to produce more wins, but their popularity kept the casual fans interest a little longer. It wasn't like they were asking for a ton of money, just an extra year of guaranteed money. To me, that was the beginning of the end for the Dolan's trust and the cause of steady drop in attendance.

 

[Steve_424]

There is a difference in 'attendance has been declining' and 'worst attendance in the league'.

The Browns family night - not even a preseason game - outdrew the Indians' game yesterday. You can say 'this is a football town' but that only re-enforces the problem the Dolans have - as long as there is football in town, there is a very real, and very low ceiling on how much they'll ever be able to draw.

The bolded portion is dead-on, though.

Beat me to it on the scrimmage attendance.

My take - People bitch about the Browns but still go to games. People bitch about the Indians and stay home.

 

[Steve_424]

Who is the player that the casual fan can identify with and root for the Indians?

For the Cavs it was Lebron and now Irving
For the Browns it is Haden, Richardson, and Weedon.
Who is that person for the Indians? Maybe Kipnis. At one time it was Sizemore, but he hasn't been healthy enough to stay on the field longer than a minute.

At one time it used to be Ramirez, Thome, Sandy Alomar, Vizquel, Lofton. I can't blame the Dolan's for not being able to resign Thome and Ramirez because any big market club was going to outbid the Tribe for their services and we can only hope they would have taken discounted prices. However, not resigning Sandy Alomar and Vizquel were mistakes, not that they were going to produce more wins, but their popularity kept the casual fans interest a little longer. It wasn't like they were asking for a ton of money, just an extra year of guaranteed money. To me, that was the beginning of the end for the Dolan's trust and the cause of steady drop in attendance.

They had Victor Martinez and Johnny Peralta waiting. Sandy averaged 60 games per season in the seven years after he left Cleveland and was never the same at or behind the plate. Omar had two good seasons with San Francisco then was average for the most part. I love both, but it was absolutely the right move.

 

[Fursdon]

It's time for Dolan to sell the Indians
August 12, 2012

The Indians are on their way to their 11th season in 13 years under the ownership of Larry Dolan where they will miss the playoffs. They have gone through two rebuilds under his watch, and may be on the cusp of a third. Fan favorites have left via free agency or been traded. Attendance has plummeted to last in MLB. In his inaugural piece for the IPI, Steve Garton - a season ticket holder - says it is time for Dolan to sell.

http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/blog/its-time-for-dolan-to-sell-the-indians-31101

Well done Sir!

 

[JMcCurry08]

Rumor: Tony Rizzo said on the RBS he's heard since he works for Fox that the News Corporation that owns Fox, Fox News, Big Ten Network, etc. are rumored to be buying Sportstime Ohio and could possibly buy the Indians outright

Stay tuned

 

[Seiklis]

Rumor: Tony Rizzo said on the RBS he's heard since he works for Fox that the News Corporation that owns Fox, Fox News, Big Ten Network, etc. are rumored to be buying Sportstime Ohio and could possibly buy the Indians outright

Stay tuned

That's dangerous...they have the money to not care about the lease. Murdoch has been rumored to be after a team for awhile now, but I just wouldn't trust him to not move the team

 

[JMcCurry08]

I have also spoken to Geno from All Bets Are Off via twitter....hes heard the rumors too but hes heard rumors since he started in 2007

 

[Pyro]

Well that would certainly be interesting...

 

[AZ_]

The team is in Cleveland through at least 2023, and I can't imagine Cleveland letting that expire without extension.


Cleveland is in relatively no danger of moving.

 

[gnu16]

Murdoch bought 49% of the YES network which broadcast the Yankees and Nets games, that may be a plan to buy the Yankees at some point.

I would guess that STO would (if this sale goes through) become a 2nd Fox Sports Ohio affiliate where you could have the Cavs on one station and the Tribe on another (or for us hockey fans, Blue Jackets on one station, Cavs on another).

And I agree with B00bie, Indians aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Chris]

And I agree with B00bie, Indians aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Sadly, this is true in several different ways.

 

[Steve_424]

I haven't seen any rumors aside from here about the Indians being sold, just STO being bought out by FSO.

 

[Pyro]

FSOhio is buying out STO? I haven't seen that rumor...

 

[Steve_424]

FSOhio is buying out STO? I haven't seen that rumor...

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2012/11/17/sports/nh6232218.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Speaking of Fox Sports Ohio, it appears to be close to purchasing SportsTime Ohio. A source said if Fox buys it, it will broadcast the Indians and STO would no longer exist. The Dolan family is expected to retain its minority share in the cable franchise. Many thought Time Warner Cable was close to buying STO, but Fox appears to be very close to pulling the trigger on the megadeal.