Baseball boosters are way off base, critic claims.

• Position: Interview with Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs Associate Dean Mark Rosentraub - Interview

Mark Rosentraub is associate dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University at Indianapolis. He studies sports economics and wrote Major League Losers: The Real Cost of Sports And Who's Paying For It. With the Minnesota Twins staying put, he explains why North Carolina might not want big-league baseball anyway.

BNC: How accurate was Muhleman Marketing Inc.'s feasibility study of bringing the Twins to Charlotte?

I was surprised with its frankness - usually Max [Muhleman] is more gregarious in predicting success. He's put it in the most favorable light, given his clients [The Charlotte Regional Sports Commission]. But if you look at the revenue, clearly it's not going to work. He's conceding it's unlikely you're going to get more than 40 luxury suites. That's not enough. They're talking about attendance just over 2 million. That's not enough.

BNC: How come?

Max has painted it for you in black-and-white. Forty suites at $100,000 - that's $4 million. Two million seats at a rough average of $15, that's $30 million. Stadium operations, naming rights, all the other chazari - we'll go [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] highball - another $10 million. And give them $8 million from the central fund [for revenue sharing]. Plug in any number you want for local media. Let's give them $6 million. No matter what, that doesn't even cover your player payroll, which needs to be in the $60 million range. And you haven't paid for your minor leagues, $10 million to $12 million. You haven't paid for team operations. You haven't hired a manager. You haven't hired a coach. You haven't paid front-office expenses. If you ask the team to put money toward the stadium, they could be $20 million to $30 million short a year.

BNC: Is the problem that the markets in North Carolina are too small?

No. The problem is that New York is too big. New York only has two teams. So the Yankees get to divide a market with 19.8 million people, a cadre of Fortune 500s and a media contract they don't have to share. Baseball is going to tell you, 'Well, this is North Carolina's problem.' It's not. It is baseball's problem. Major League Baseball allows the New York market and the Boston market to exist basically unimpeded by competition. Labor follows money. So will a Charlotte baseball team have a successful year? Sure it will. And will the players then go to the higher-revenue teams? Absolutely.

BNC: Would revenue sharing help?

They share merchandise, and there's a...