Most owners in most pro sports don't make huge yearly profits on their team. Now some do (Hi. Mr. Atanasio!), some put family on in no shows jobs (Hi Mr. McCourt!), but like the Steinbrenner's only make any money if the Yankees get into the playoffs. If the owner has income sources outside of the team they can operate at a loss (unlike the Seligs that were so cash poor they had to take short term loans to cover payroll each year), or in like Daniel Snyder cna operate at a loss each year. You can do that because major sports teams just keep going up in value.