The players, he said, got locked in and the owners wound up with soaring franchise values.

To the extent that fans "matter" (not very much), they are seen as a leverage point for commercial or franchise value.

He said baseball had not specifically evaluated how the new tax law would affect franchise values.

"A lot of investors are assuming very high franchise values," he said.

Until recently, franchise values were rising and the four most recent expansion teams each sold for $80 million.

This is because it loses its main franchise value, customers, employees and other positive aspects of a going concern.

"And the franchise value of the content that newspapers have."

But the most conclusive evidence of team profitability is rising franchise values.

But it is unclear whether franchise values can continue to increase so sharply.

Their operating losses, said to be over $400 million in 1994, would reduce franchise values.