Reinsdorf Quotes

[Buehrle>Wood]

"[Sports] is different than any other business. For example, your competitors are your partners. You earn probably half of your income in conjunction with your competitors. At the same time, you are at the mercy of your dumbest competitors."

"Particularly in baseball. If you have somebody who decides he wants to spend $42 million on a second baseman who hits .202, and one comes along for you, you’re going to probably have to spend the same money. The whole thing is irrational."

Reinsdorf: "My approach has been I never really cared about making any money, I just want to win. Now, that’s not what I wanted to do in business. ... The first week I was in sports somebody said to me 'If you listen to the fans, you’ll soon be sitting with the fans.'"

"You can’t allow your decisions to be guided by emotions of what you think people want. At the same time, you have to consider what your fans are thinking or they’re not going to buy your tickets."

Reinsdorf: "Sports is a business of failure but the fact that you finish second or third or fourth it doesn’t mean you had a bad year."

"I think the important thing to fans is, while they want you to win championships, they want to know that when they get down to the last month of the season you still have a shot. You’re still playing meaningful games. If you can do that consistently you’ll make your fans happy."

More Reinsdorf: "If you think that you know more than your GM or head coach, then you’ve got the wrong GM... sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and have faith. But you can’t make the decisions for your baseball people...You’ve got to let them make the decisions."

"Sometimes I sit in ownership meetings and I think ‘how in the world could these guys have made money to buy a team.'"

Reinsdorf: In 1981 we were getting $6,000 per game for White Sox games. Now our rights fees are about $700k per game…. We were getting away with murder with the cable bundle.

On cable cont.: "People were paying for sports who really didn’t want the sports….Streaming is coming along but it doesn’t produce the money that the cable bundle produced. And there’s basically near-panic. because where are we going to replace this money in the short term?"

Reinsdorf ended with this half-joking remark on gambling: "Baseball may have made a mistake by speeding up the games this year. Because while people want faster games and want to get out early, there’s less time to bet between the pitches. Maybe we made a mistake."

 

[Tnetennba]

f*** JR

You’ve milked this fanbase for billions.  Cash out and sell the damn team already…

[Big Hurtin]

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

Truly hate to admit it, but I will celebrate the day this fucker turns into worm food.

[chitownsportsfan]

Are you fucking serious? This reads like an onion article of an out of touch billionaire owner.  We are straight fucked. It doesn't matter if he fires Hahn, he'll find another clown.

[JoeC]

50 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Reinsdorf: "Sports is a business of failure but the fact that you finish second or third or fourth it doesn’t mean you had a bad year."

"I think the important thing to fans is, while they want you to win championships, they want to know that when they get down to the last month of the season you still have a shot. You’re still playing meaningful games. If you can do that consistently you’ll make your fans happy."

 

 

...until you show that that's your goal by clearly taking action ONLY so far as to achieve second place (maybe), then publicly stating that that's your goal.

THEN they won't be happy.

[chetkincaid]

The only way to change this is to stop going to games. Tune them out. I know it’s a tired sports thought but damn man enough is enough. I feel foolish giving my hard earned money to this guy who has no interest in winning. 

[RG23SoxFan]

Too much BS to even try to respond to all of it...but so tired of the liar saying, ""My approach has been I never really cared about making any money..." 

So some of his other  comments: "If you have somebody who decides he wants to spend $42 million on a second baseman who hits .202, and one comes along for you, you’re going to probably have to spend the same money." and "Now our rights fees are about $700k per game…Streaming is coming along but it doesn’t produce the money that the cable bundle produced. And there’s basically near-panic. because where are we going to replace this money in the short term?"

Do those comments sound like a person who doesn't care about making money?  Sounds to me like he is very concerned about it. 

Where he is correct is that he should consider what fans think or they won't buy your tickets.  Well this fan is done buying them as long as you're the one selling them.  

 

[cuban_sammiches]

Counterpoint: Berto was right.

[FloydBannister1983]

[Cerbaho-WG]

What a sack of s%*#.

 

It’s interesting contrasting Reinsdorf with the sports I follow these days (German soccer, because 1) lived there and 2) lol Chicago sports is a tire fire). It’s clear that Reinsdorf could give a s%*# about the fans and their connection to the team. There is a very clear difference between “the club belongs to the fans” and “this is an asset I’m trying to maximize the value for.” It’s very clear where Reinsdorf aligns, and we’ll all be better off when he’s dead. Good riddance.

[Kyyle23]

At this point there isn’t anything left to say.  As fans we are held hostage by this man until he is no longer owner, and now he feels pretty free to remind us that 4th place can be fine 

[whitesoxfan99]

As someone who used to split season tickets for the Bulls and go to 10+ Sox games per year I remain committed to not going to any games until Reinsdorf no longer owns the teams.  Insane to give that piece of s%*# money

[Marqhead]

f*** off

[Vote4Pedro]

He also stated something along the lines of as an owner you have to let the GM and baseball minds do their jobs and not interfere with operations….

yet he did the exact opposite when he forced TLR upon the team.

[Lip Man 1]

Many of these comments add weight to what David Samson said JR told him about finishing second from a profitability standpoint and keeping fans interested.

By the way JR through the team never denied making that statement he said he "didn't remember" saying it, which is entirely different.  

[Paulie4Pres]

Wake me up when this asshole dies. That's really the only update from JR I give a s%*# about, because we know he's not selling.

[caulfield12]

The Royals resent this comment...they're not going to give up the battle for 3rd/4th with the Tigers and White Sox all that easily.

[SoxFanForever]

This franchise is dead in the water until Jerry croaks.  Just depressing.

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

I still don't understand Jerry's resentment towards fans. I just don't get it. Its already widely known he hates athletes and thinks they are overpaid babies. But why does he hate us surfs so much? Dafuq did we do aside from handing him our disposable income all these years as fans?

[Tnetennba]

25 minutes ago, Vote4Pedro said:

He also stated something along the lines of as an owner you have to let the GM and baseball minds do their jobs and not interfere with operations….

yet he did the exact opposite when he forced TLR upon the team.

The most infuriating part is how he tries to wash his hands of the failures of the baseball ops people, knowing full well he has his tendrils deep in that front office, infecting every aspect of the org.  He has the power to replace the FO with competent baseball people but simply refuses because his sycophants are totally on board with his money making above all else scheme.  TLR is the prime example of JR’s interference with baseball ops, but he gets to gaslight us because his billions insulate him from any accountability. 

[pcq]

Jerry is not a billionaire and does not hold most of the equity. We have no financial people to explain operating capital. We do not understand sports management and neither does he. 

[JoshPR]

Wow what a slap in the face. This MFer don't know how to avoid controversy. Yeah it not about the money he says.... Just don't spend to much. Clown

[Claudellsleptheretoo]

Didn’t he pay Adam Dunn more than $42 M?  Did he even hit .202?  Didn’t he finish his first season at .190 or so?  How many million per HR did we pay for him?

[baseball_gal_aly]