Ownership simply doesn't give a s***.
Denver is a transplant town and they have a great ballpark downtown. Between the transplants, the visiting fans (the Rockies actually advertise to other MLB fanbases), and the Denver people who just want to drink outside, they still have very good attendance. 13th in MLB this year despite sucking so bad.
Ownership has also bought and developed a ton of property surrounding the ballpark and makes a killing off of all of that.
The owner actually does spend a little on MLB payroll, but he hates spending on front office and player development. He's even on record saying that a salary cap should apply to those budgets.
He always hires in house and they run a skeleton front office. He becomes friends with the front office people and the players and won't get rid of people because he's friends with them. I think he just promoted his 35 year old son to run the team.
MLB puts up with it because he often leads negotiations during the CBA and is good cannon fodder to provide cover for the rest of the owners.