People aren't ignoring it. The two things aren't related to each other. Alex Rodrieguez makes so much money because tickets to see him play cost so much (especially compared to what it cost to see Babe Ruth).
For the situation to be the same Rodrieguez would need to be making the same as Ruth (inflation adjusted) but the managers to be making 100+ times more money.
What's actually happened is prices have gone up. The difference you see is that certain professions have much better representation to ensure they get their share of the increased profits.
What has changed is the value of the income from TV. Even so, the revenue for players has risen faster than the income from TV.
Another factor, not shown, is the size of the audience.
However even if you add all that together, I believe that salaries have still gone up by more than revenue. And I attribute that to the rise of free agents.
>What has changed is the value of the income from TV.
And as mentioned by another commenter, merchandise and so on. Even if what you're saying were true that players have a larger percentage of the overall pie that their team makes (I don't believe this for a second without a lot more analysis) that could indicate that they were under-compensated before and are now getting a fairer share. Perhaps because of unions, perhaps because of (as you mention) free agents.
Not only have prices gone up, but exposure and merchandise etc (for the team) have increased in modern times, leading to more money as a whole for the team, and therefore star players.
People aren't ignoring it. The two things aren't related to each other. Alex Rodrieguez makes so much money because tickets to see him play cost so much (especially compared to what it cost to see Babe Ruth).
For the situation to be the same Rodrieguez would need to be making the same as Ruth (inflation adjusted) but the managers to be making 100+ times more money.
What's actually happened is prices have gone up. The difference you see is that certain professions have much better representation to ensure they get their share of the increased profits.
EDIT: A bit of point clarification.