New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said he would prefer to spend less money on payroll next year and that it was “not fair or accurate” to assume the club was profitable last season, remarks that sparked immediate frustration and confusion within the championship-starved fan base on social media.

Steinbrenner said the Yankees’ payroll finished at $319 million in 2025 as the club fell in the American League Division Series to the Toronto Blue Jays.

“Would it be ideal if I went down (in payroll)?” Steinbrenner said during a video conference call with reporters Monday afternoon. “Of course. But does that mean that’s going to happen? Of course not.”

The Yankees are perennially one of the highest-spending teams in MLB, and they have the highest franchise valuation at $8.2 billion, according to Forbes. When the club re-signed Aaron Judge to a $360 million deal in 2022, he became the highest-paid position player on an average annual basis at the time. Gerrit Cole’s $324 million deal with the Yankees in 2019 was the richest contract ever given to a starting pitcher at the time.

But they were outspent last season by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the World Series, and the New York Mets, who didn’t make the playoffs.

Club financials are difficult to independently verify. It’s unclear whether the Yankees’ accounting includes the YES Network, the regional sports network partially owned by the club that ultimately operates as a separate entity. Increases in franchise value are also typically not included. The Yankees’ worth has increased by about $3 billion since 2021, per Forbes, which pegged the team’s value at $5.25 billion that year.

The Yankees are still expected to chase high-priced free agents this offseason, including outfielder Cody Bellinger and Japanese starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai. But last year Steinbrenner said it would be “not sustainable” for the club to continue having a $300 million payroll.

On Monday, Steinbrenner said the Yankees’ payroll could “go slightly down one year and then up the year after that.”

“I mean,” he said, “it all depends on what’s out there and what the possibilities are, and how much I feel we’re able or we need to pull the trigger on those possibilities.”

Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees celebrate after the team beat the Guardians in the 2024 ALCS to advance to the World Series. (Mary DeCicco / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Steinbrenner added that he hasn’t given general manager Brian Cashman a budget, but that he’d rather task Cashman and the front office with presenting their best ideas, and for him to ultimately decide whether he’ll finance them.

“We can talk before (Cashman) goes into Winter Meetings about a (payroll) range,” the owner said, “but because it’s a fluid situation, that range can go bye-bye in two seconds if there’s a deal that arises that I feel would be very beneficial to some area of need that we have. It’s hard to give you a number.”

A reporter then said he had “seen it suggested that the Yankees’ revenues were over $700 (million)” in 2025. He appeared to be referencing Forbes, which said the Yankees had made $728 million in revenue. The reporter then asked if it was fair to assume the Yankees made a profit this year.

“No,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s not fair, actually.”

But do the Yankees lose money?

“I don’t want to get into it,” he said. “But that’s not a fair statement or an accurate statement.”

A Yankees spokesman later clarified to The Athletic that Steinbrenner was saying that it wasn’t fair to assume the Yankees made a profit in 2025.

Steinbrenner also said it was important to consider the Yankees’ expenses, and he referenced the yearly bond payment the club makes to New York City to finance Yankee Stadium, which was built in 2009. Steinbrenner said that alone cost $100 million this year.

“It all starts to add up in a hurry,” he said. “Nobody spends more money — I don’t believe — on player development, scouting (or) performance science. These all start to add up. If you want to go look at the revenues, you got to somehow try to figure out the expense side as well. You might be surprised.”

Later during the call, The Athletic asked Steinbrenner directly if the Yankees didn’t make money in the 2025 season.

“I’m not going to get into our finances,” he said.

It’s rare for teams to discuss financial particulars in public. The Atlanta Braves are MLB’s only publicly traded team. The Toronto Blue Jays are owned by a public entity, Rogers Communications, but the Braves are their own public company.

With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, 2026, and with a potential battle between players and owners over a salary cap looming, Steinbrenner reiterated that he would be open to the idea of a cap — as long as it came with a spending floor, too.

He declined to say how low the spending floor should be.

“Something that would be reasonable enough that it would improve competitive balance significantly in the sport,” he said, “which many fans would argue is not good enough. I think we’ve made strides the last 10 years in some of the things we’ve done. As an industry, probably not where we need to be at least — or at least that’s what the majority of fans believe.”

— The Athletic’s Evan Drellich contributed to this report.