Marlins manage moolah
Forbes magazine is out with its annual report on the business of baseball and the big news isn’t that the New York Yankees would have broken even last year if they didn’t have to pay Alex Rodriguez’s salary.
The Yankees are the loss leaders of major league baseball, willing to give up some now to get even more later. They may lose a few million here and there – some $25.2 million last year – but at the same time the estimated value of the franchise increased 17 percent to a staggering $1.2 billion.
Besides, take away $70 million or so in revenue sharing the Yankees had to give to the less fortunate millionaire owners and George Steinbrenner and partnership would have been counting up a tidy little profit – and that doesn’t even count income from the team’s interest in the YES Network.
The other 29 teams managed to do just that with varying degrees of success in 2006, but you might be surprised that none did it better than the Florida Marlins. According to Forbes, the Marlins made $43.3 million for the season despite drawing less than 15,000 fans a game to the ballpark.
That should be cause for celebration in Miami, where the more money the Marlins make the more they will put into a new stadium. Sure they will, just before they start selling land in the Everglades.
The economics of baseball, of course, don’t work that way. Owner Jeffrey Loria will pocket the $43.3 million, continue to strong-arm the taxpayers of South Florida to finance part of a $500 million stadium, and then enjoy the corresponding increase in value for the franchise when it is finally built.
The Marlins weren’t thrilled about the magazine’s estimates. While most American businesses would be trumpeting the news of a big profit, most of them aren’t at the same time trying to feed from the public trough.
“As usual, the franchise valuations and operating income numbers are pure fantasy and based on no correct information,” Marlins president David Samson said.
The Marlins made part of their money the old-fashioned way, by making sure their employees didn’t draw fat paychecks. The payroll for the Florida team last year barely reached $20 million, which these days is about the going rate for a decent starting pitcher and maybe a right fielder.