What do you call the New York Yankees, a very succesful organization both on and off the field, having to pay millions to the Pittsburgh Pirates because the Yankees want to put a good product on the field for their fans, and the Pirates do not.
That’s what you do to try to have a competitive league when your player’s union won’t allow a salary cap.
Professional sports leagues, from the owners point, aren’t laundromats. If you own a laundromat, your better off when the competition closes. Except for the (sadly hypothetical) case of contraction, a sports league is healthier without it’s worst teams have to suffer in the dredges. It’s a bigger picture thing.