Selig insisted that liabilities under the 60/40 rule have always included the value of salaries for future years, and any suggestion to the contrary was “just bullshit.”
Something about this column struck a nerve at Major League Baseball. Two days after it was posted, Rich Levin, MLB’s Senior Vice President-Public Relations, called the SABR office to get my phone number. Two hours later, an efficient-sounding woman left a voice mail in which she said that Commissioner Bud Selig wanted to speak to…
Add Forbes to the ever-growing list of those who don’t believe MLB’s cries of poverty.
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Add Forbes to the ever-growing list of those who don’t believe MLB’s cries of poverty. The April 15 issue of Forbes contains the magazine’s annual survey of MLB’s finances. Michael Ozanian has been compiling these surveys since 1991, first for the…
The second week of March may have marked a permanent change in Commissioner Bud Selig’s status. He’s no longer simply an incompetent, lying, permanently conflicted embarrassment to an office once held by judges and senators. Unless the owners who hired him wake up in time to stop him, Czar Bud will have become an active threat to their own wallets and a walking advertisement for the repeal of MLB’s anti-trust exemption.
The second week of March may have marked a permanent change in Commissioner Bud Selig’s status. He’s no longer simply an incompetent, lying, permanently conflicted embarrassment to an office once held by judges and senators. Unless the owners who hired him wake up in time to stop him, Czar Bud will have become an active…
As noted in my last column, operating losses account for only $232 million of the $519 million Major League Baseball claims to have lost in 2001. Another $112,491,000 represents net interest expenses. Here’s how the interest was distributed.
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six As noted in my last column, operating losses account for only $232 million of the $519 million Major League Baseball claims to have lost in 2001. Another $112,491,000 represents net interest expenses. Here’s how the interest was distributed: Team Interest Chicago Cubs $4,665,000…
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five At last we’ve reached the bottom line. The table below ranks the 30 major league clubs from most to least profitable, net of revenue sharing. Team Income frombaseball operations 2001 revenuesharing Income frombaseball operationsafter revenuesharing Milwaukee Brewers $14,385,000 $1,744,000 $16,129,000 Seattle Mariners $34,266,000 ($18,791,000) $15,475,000…
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four The black hole of MLB’s financial disclosures is titled "National and Other Local Expenses." This category includes all operating expenses other than those associated with players on the 40-man roster. Legitimate expenses in this category include salaries for managers, coaches, and scouts; signing bonuses for draftees and…
Part One Part Two Part Three As the long-time owner of an unsuccessful small-market team, Commissioner Bud Selig has 30 years of practice arguing that "small markets can’t compete." (The Brewers’ mediocrity surely couldn’t be management’s fault.) Inevitably, Exhibit A in this argument is a table similar to the first two columns below, which show…
Part One Part Two MLB’s financial disclosures break down team revenues into five categories. Two, regular-season game receipts and local media money, were discussed in the first two installments of this series. The third column, postseason revenue, contains a few surprises: Team Postseason Revenue New York Yankees $16,000,000 Arizona Diamondbacks $13,000,000 Seattle Mariners $7,392,000 Oakland…
Part One The second column of MLB’s financial disclosures sets forth each club’s purported revenues from local television, radio, and cable contracts. As the table below shows, media revenues are heavily affected by the size of a club’s local market. For example, the Mets and Diamondbacks have identical media contracts on a per capita basis,…
(Ed. Note: Doug Pappas is the chairman of SABR’s Business of Baseball Committee and a highly-regarded analyst of the game’s economic issues. This is the first of a series of pieces he will be doing analyzing the game’s finances.–JSS) Shortly before Commissioner Bud Selig’s testimony before Congress on December 6, Major League Baseball released the…