New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner made comments on Monday that didn’t go over well with the fanbase. Steinbrenner claimed that the Yankees had a roster payroll of $319 million in 2025 and added, “Would it be ideal if it went down? Of course.” He also said that it’s “not a fair statement or an accurate statement” to assume the Yankees are making a profit.

Hal Steinbrenner said payroll was $319 million in 2025. “Would it be ideal if it went down? Of course. But does that mean that’s going to happen? Of course not. We want to field a team we know can win a championship, or we believe could win a championship.”

— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) November 24, 2025

Hal Steinbrenner seemed to suggest that the Yankees are not making a profit. When a question was asked about the Yankees making more than $700 million in revenue and if it’s fair to assume he’s making a profit, here’s how he answered:

Hal: “No, it’s not fair, actually.”

Q:…

— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) November 24, 2025

On Tuesday, New York sports radio legend Mike Francesa sounded off on Steinbrenner’s comments for 10 minutes on The Mike Francesa Podcast.

“What was Hal thinking?” Francesa began. “I am shocked. He always gets questions about the payroll. I’m even surprised he would say that he would like the payroll to be lower, because that sends off bells and whistles. But to get into whining about a payment that actually saves him money in property taxes… Let’s be honest, Hal opened up Pandora’s box. Owners would rather jump out of a building than let anybody audit their books. They will never let ANYBODY near their books.”

“You’re talking about a franchise that [George Steinbrenner] bought that was the greatest purchase this side of Manhattan being bought for $24,” Francesa said. “He bought the Yankees, the New York Yankees, with other people’s money and $165,000 in cash of his own money… Now, think about what he paid for it. Depending if you want to get into all the different things with the parking garages and everything else, anywhere from eight and change to $9 million for the franchise, okay? $9 million. They’re now worth between eight and $9 billion. Their logo is one of the most important brands in the world, and recognizable brands in the world. Do you know how many holding and different companies they have?”

“The idea that the Yankees don’t make money; I’m surprised he could actually say it with a straight face,” Francesa added. “I mean, you’re going to plead poverty? Listen, you can plead a lot of things with the New York Yankees. Poverty can’t be one of them. It cannot. Now, we know that Hal is much tighter with a buck, and we know that some things in baseball have changed. But the idea that they aren’t tripping over the money they make is an absolute joke. And people will line up to bid for this franchise. Line up. And it could go to $10 billion… Hey, the Yankees as anything but an absolute gold mine, is a joke. A joke.”

Francesa then turned the rant into explaining how far ahead of the Yankees the Los Angeles Dodgers currently are. The Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series titles and had a payroll estimated at approximately $415 million in 2025. The Yankees finished third in the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) payroll behind the Dodgers and the New York Mets.

“The Dodgers have made the Yankees look like an A-ball outfit.” pic.twitter.com/m4ihpq3VIJ

— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) November 25, 2025

“Now, you don’t want to play the game on the Dodgers’ level?” Francesa continued. “Fine. The Dodgers have made the Yankees look like an A-ball outfit. That’s what’s really bad, is they have allowed, and George never would’ve allowed this, they have allowed the Dodgers to take what the Yankees used to do. The Yankees, ‘We are bigger. We are better. We spend more. We shop at Tiffany’s. We buy the best. We are the best.’ That’s how the Yankees acted. ‘And we win. And we are the best.’”

“They don’t act that way anymore,” Francesa explained. “Now, they’re satisfied when they make the playoffs. Why are they satisfied? Because their stadium is full. And their signage is up. And the sponsors are buying the signage. And the luxury boxes are rented. That’s how they judge the season. And they need the playoffs for any of that to happen. But there’s only so much they’re willing to spend now. And then to plead poverty? And get upset about a payment that actually saves them money in property taxes? I mean, you got to be out of your mind!”

“This was a real mistake by Hal to go down this road,” Francesa said. “He can’t win. He can’t win going down that road. There’s no way to win going down that road. And no one is going to believe their dispute. ‘Well, don’t think just because our revenues are $700 million a year, while the Mets are $380 or 85 or whatever they turned out to be this year, and that’s a big rise for them in revenues. Don’t assume we’re making money. But we don’t want to get into all the different companies we have. Do we want to explain those? Well, how about this? I’ll tell you what we’ll do. We’ll prove it once and for all. We’ll just open the books up and bring in an independent auditor.’”

“Donkeys will fly before that ever happens,” Francesa said while laughing. “Donkeys will fly before anybody ever sees those books. Take that to the bank. Take it to the bank. And the bank is someplace that the Yankees and their partners visit often. They can’t win that fight. They cannot win that fight, and it’s the worst kind of message to send to your fanbase that was brought up on, ‘We buy the best. We are the best. We are the Yankees.’ Well, now, ‘Well, we don’t mind being second or third and competing. Yes, yes, we’ve only won one championship in the last 25 years, but we try hard, and we all get along.’”

“And when Hal was asked about the team, he said, ‘I like that they all got along last year,’” Francesa elaborated. “Well, that’s great. Go back to ’78 when they couldn’t stand each other, but they beat the hell out of everybody else. Yankees fans would rather have that. They don’t care if they get along. They want rings. And when they’re paying what they pay for parking, what they pay for a beer, what they pay for a hot dog, what they pay for a Yankee cap, and you see Yankee caps in every color under the rainbow, and you see Yankee merchandise all over the world. Go into any airport in the world, and you’ll see a Yankee cap. Anywhere. It’s hard to plead poverty when you’re the New York Yankees. Very, very hard. And matter of fact, it’s not where you want to go as the owner.”

“It’s almost like the Yankees have become this place where they don’t make changes because everybody knows where the bodies are buried,” Francesa said in his closing thoughts on the subject. “Well, I know one thing. Everyone knows where the money is kept.”