American “Not-So-Socialist” League in the Postwar Era:
The Limitations of Gate-Sharing in Reducing Revenue Disparity in Baseball

Author: David G. Surdam
Publication: Journal of Sports Economics
Publication Date: 2002

A suggested remedy for competitive imbalance in professional sports leagues is for home teams to share gate and broadcasting revenues. In some models, researchers assume that as a team becomes stronger, its ability to draw on the road falls (because the rival team is, ceteris paribus, weaker). The experience in the American League during the 1950s demonstrates that this assumption does not hold at all times for all leagues. In cases where stronger teams also draw well on the road, gate sharing may shift revenue from weaker teams to stronger teams.