Baseball As Zero-Sum Game

The underperforming Yankees are hurting the city in more ways than one:

City businesses stand to miss out on making $141 million this fall if the Yankees fail to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, according to a study commissioned by The Post.

The report conducted by NYU adjunct professor John Tepper Marlin shows that if the Yankees snag at least a wild-card berth, a first-round appearance could fill the coffers of bars, restaurants and other businesses across the city with $26 million.

Marlin, a former number-crunching chief economist for three former city comptrollers, said the Bronx Bombers would need to make the playoffs every year if the city hopes to reap any economic benefits, a feat many fans and businesses have taken as a given since 1995.

“If they’re not, you can argue that the city loses money,” he said. “You would think that with such a bloated payroll, the Yankees would make the playoffs.”