The Yankees will have to contribute approximately $48.8 million under the current revenue sharing plan, a baseball official told USA Today on Thursday.
Teams with the highest revenues contribute to the fund that is shared with teams at the bottom. The Yankees, with revenues estimated at $270 million, pay the most. Sharing of locally generated revenue was increased from 20 percent to 34 percent under terms of the 2002 collective bargaining agreement.
Earlier in the week, a baseball official told The Associated Press that the Yankees must pay $11.82 million in luxury taxes. Unlike regular payroll figures, the luxury tax is based on payrolls for 40-man rosters and includes about $8 million per team for benefits.
A tax rate of 17.5 percent this year means the Yankees' final payroll, for tax purposes, was $184.5 million. The other 29 teams all stayed under the tax threshold of $117 million.
George Steinbrenner was not available for comment on Thursday, but had previously endorsed revenue sharing. The Yankees made it to the World Series this year before losing to the underdog Marlins in six games.
The Yankees' luxury tax payment is due by Jan. 31. The whole purpose of the luxury tax and revenue sharing is to creative competitive balance, which commissioner Bud Selig says has occurred.
"You wouldn't have seen Anaheim [2002] or Florida [2003] in a World Series if this were 10 years ago," Selig told USA Today. "I'm convinced there will be other manifestations of revenue sharing in the future."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.