MLB Year by Year Total Annual Payroll

Description:

Year by year total annual payroll for Major League Baseball.

Data: 

http://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/112/highlights/cu11_0523.jsp

http://www.baseball-databank.org/

Analysis:

The entire yearly budget for the National Science Foundation is currently set at $6.8 billion.  By the year 2048, the total annual payroll for Major League Baseball will eclipse that, assuming that the NSF budget remains the same.

Questions:

1. Can MLB keep up this pace?
2. Are the other professional sports leagues increasing at the same rate?
3. The MLB payroll appears cyclical - is it due for an uptick?