Welcome to Issue No. 11 of The California Sports Lawyer® Briefing, a weekly look at the intersection of entertainment, media, sports, business, technology, and law.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ acquisition of Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers renewed questions about payroll disparities, salary caps, labor costs, and competitive balance in Major League Baseball.
This week’s column and podcast consider seven truths about baseball and competition, including why spending helps but does not guarantee championships, why every franchise should invest in the quality of the game, and why limiting successful teams may not produce a healthier sports league.
This week’s column uses the Skubal trade as a case study for evaluating whether restricting ambitious teams actually creates competitive balance.
A large payroll provides greater opportunities, but it does not guarantee success. Competitive organizations must also draft, develop, trade for, and retain talent while making sound decisions and assuming reasonable risks. The column argues that baseball should encourage investment throughout the league without unnecessarily limiting ambition at the top or tolerating inaction at the bottom.
“In sports, as in life, people matter. Championships and victories are won by and with people.”
— From Seven Truths About Baseball and Competitive Balance by Jeremy M. Evans
This week’s California Sports Lawyer® Podcast expands the discussion surrounding the Skubal trade and the economic policies intended to create competitive balance in professional baseball.
The episode explores:
Why spending helps but does not guarantee championships
How trades, prospects, and player development require organizations to assume risk
Why salary caps provide owners with greater cost certainty and can support higher franchise valuations
How winning can strengthen attendance, viewership, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and long-term brand loyalty
Whether every franchise should reinvest a reasonable percentage of its revenue in player salaries, development, facilities, venue improvements, and the fan experience
Why high-revenue teams should not use a salary cap merely to retain more revenue
Why low-revenue and revenue-sharing teams should be expected to make a credible effort to compete
“Access to capital alone does not explain competitive success. Access to talented executives, and the willingness to let them compete, often does.”
— Inside this episode of the California Sports Lawyer® Podcast
The Dodgers acquired two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal while pursuing a third consecutive World Series championship.
Spending can improve a team’s chances of winning, but payroll alone does not guarantee a championship.
Salary caps can make labor expenses more predictable, improve operating margins, and support franchise valuations.
Winning can also create value through stronger attendance, media audiences, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and brand loyalty.
A minimum payroll or competitive-investment requirement could encourage teams to improve without unnecessarily restricting spending at the top.
Competitive balance depends on ownership, management, scouting, player development, facilities, decision-making, and a willingness to assume reasonable risks.
Competitive balance should not become a justification for suppressing ambition or rewarding inaction. Baseball is strongest when players participate in the growth they help create, owners have the opportunity to earn reasonable returns, and every franchise reinvests in the quality, stability, and future of the game.
College sports remain an important area to watch. The Big Ten and SEC have announced their support for the Protect College Sports Act, while a federal court has intervened in the NCAA’s new eligibility rules. Together, these developments demonstrate how legislation, litigation, and conference leadership are simultaneously influencing the business of college athletics.
Next week’s issue will consider whether Congress and the courts can work together to provide greater stability for men’s college sports, why the support of the two largest conferences matters, and what the continuing debate over athlete employment and collective bargaining could mean for compensation and labor relations.
Continued work remains underway across California Sports Lawyer®, The CSL Briefing, the California Sports Lawyer® Podcast, speaking engagements, teaching, and related initiatives involving sports, entertainment, media, business, technology, and law.
Thank you for reading.
Until next week.
— Jeremy M. Evans
CEO & Managing Attorney
California Sports Lawyer®
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