Archive for the 'Revenue sharing' Category

Aug 23

Surprise, Surprise, The Rays Are Not Losing Money (Update)

New Stadium, Revenue sharing, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 26 Comments »

This morning, Deadspin released financial documents from several teams. Among the documents are four pages from the Tampa Bay Rays covering the teams finances from 2007 and 2008.

We are still in the process of breaking down the numbers, but the first thing to jump out at us is confirmation of the amount the Rays receive in revenue sharing. There have been rumors, but never anything concrete. On page 3 (at right), income from revenue sharing is listed as $35.3 million for 2008 and $39.4 million in 2007.

We also see that the Rays took in $17.7 million from their post-season appearance in 2008. The cost of hosting the playoffs was $6.2 million, meaning an $11.5 million windfall from their World Series run. And of course, those numbers don’t include any revenue generated from the millions of dollars in free advertising the team received from wall-to-wall national coverage in October, 2008.

At the end of page 3, we see that the Rays “comprehensive income” was $218K for 2008 and $9.6 million in 2007. Certainly not enormous figures, but…

[Update] According to The Biz of Baseball, the important figure is “Operating Income” also known as “Operating Profit.” This is the figure that indicates how much money the team made or lost in one fiscal year. According to these figures, the Rays made $14.2 million in 2008 and $21.7 million in 2007.

Pair those values with the increased value of the franchise in recent years according to Forbes, this appears to prove that the Rays are not losing money as Stuart Sternberg has stated recently. The Rays also claimed to lose between $20-30 million in 2006 and 2007.

We don’t think very many people actually believed the Rays were losing money, but these documents go a long way towards suggesting that the Rays have been less than truthful when it comes to their finances. It is a big blow to their efforts to move the team to Tampa as this shows the team can be profitable in St. Pete.

Apr 13

Joe Maddon Might Want To Check With The Bookkeeping Department

Joe Maddon, Revenue sharing Cork Gaines 13 Comments »

Joe Maddon on the Yankees complaints about the Trop:

“Tell them we’re trying to get a new yard ourselves. If they want to contribute in any way, we’ll take it. We’re all for a new ballpark. We’re not trying to hide that. … We’ll take all kinds of donations; any major-league team that wants to contribute to the new ballpark, we’d be happy to accept”

We know JoeMa was just being silly but the Yankees might not take to kindly to those words. You see, the Yankees do contribute. It’s called revenue sharing. And that is a sensitive topic right now as there are concerns about how that revenue is being spent.

Feb 26

Early Christmas Present For The Rays From Yankees And Red Sox

Rafael Soriano, Revenue sharing Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

The Biz of Baseball is reporting that revenue-sharing for 2009 is $433 million. Some of that money will end up in the pockets of the Rays.

So we would like to take this moment to thank the Yankees and Red Sox for the Rays brand-spankin’ new $7 million closer (Rafael Soriano). The Rays couldn’t have done it without the generosity of their divisional rivals.