Profits by MLB team

[TB_11]

Does anyone have a source that lists the profits earned for the MLB teams over the past few years? Or if not, the profits earned by the Cubs over the past few years?

 

Over the holidays a friend and I had an argument about MLB team profits - he mentioned the numbers MLB released in 2001, I did the same for Forbes. Any updated information would be great.

 

Thanks.

[CubFanPhilly]

Doug Pappas had a great web site on the subject, but alas he's no longer with us.

 

Here's a (dated) thread on the subject of the Cubs profitability. Most of the data comes from the Pappas site, the 2001 hearings and the Forbes articles:

 

Premium

 

Non-Premium

 

CFP

[Bgbird68]

The Cubs profits have never been public knowledge. Good luck trying to track down that figure.

[Jon]

You can find the Forbes data for 2005 and years prior here. And here's a linked article about how profitable the Mariners have been.

[TB_11]

Thanks for the help to all.

[anemic offense]

The Cubs profits have never been public knowledge. Good luck trying to track down that figure.

 

Not only that, but there's so many places to hide cash in the corporate umbrella. Then figure in a lot of the peripherals, as in Premium Tickets (or whatever the bogus ticket scalping "biz's" name was), and the Cubs national television exposure (being TribCo owns WGN, therefore the TV rights go back into the same pocket) and you have even more money. My guess is, the Cubs/Tribco. make SO MUCH off things which aren't included in the actual profitability/revenue sheets, that it would be virtually impossible to calculate the real value.

 

Bottom line, the Cubs are a cash cow. Plain and simple.

[LeftCoastCubFan]

You can find the Forbes data for 2005 and years prior here. And here's a linked article about how profitable the Mariners have been.

Also Forbes 2004 Cubs and Forbes 2003 Cubs

[LeftCoastCubFan]

The Cubs profits have never been public knowledge. Good luck trying to track down that figure.

 

Not only that, but there's so many places to hide cash in the corporate umbrella. Then figure in a lot of the peripherals, as in Premium Tickets (or whatever the bogus ticket scalping "biz's" name was), and the Cubs national television exposure (being TribCo owns WGN, therefore the TV rights go back into the same pocket) and you have even more money. My guess is, the Cubs/Tribco. make SO MUCH off things which aren't included in the actual profitability/revenue sheets, that it would be virtually impossible to calculate the real value.

 

Bottom line, the Cubs are a cash cow. Plain and simple.

Can you back that up with some facts and figures? The Cubs are profitable, but hardly a "cash cow". Their spending is in line or above comparable teams not named the Yankees or Red Sox. Every other team in their revenue range is also associated with a cable outlet. ANd if they make any profits from their ticket agency, it's likely it's in the 6 digit range, not 7 digits. Yes, there are some things that companies do to get the desired bottom line, but the net revenues recognized by baseball is 170 mil, and the player costs of 106 mil is indisputable. They still have a front office and have to pay MacPhail, Hendry, dusty, and all of the scouts; the people in the ticket office; security, ushers; toilet papaper, water for the urinals, repairs etc.

 

Forbes estimates are based on tax records and information from MLB baseball, so the profit numbers should be pretty close.

[The Voice of Reason]

Thanks for the help to all.

 

 

Any chance you are an investment banker working on selling the Cubs for the Tribune?

[anemic offense]

The Cubs profits have never been public knowledge. Good luck trying to track down that figure.

 

Not only that, but there's so many places to hide cash in the corporate umbrella. Then figure in a lot of the peripherals, as in Premium Tickets (or whatever the bogus ticket scalping "biz's" name was), and the Cubs national television exposure (being TribCo owns WGN, therefore the TV rights go back into the same pocket) and you have even more money. My guess is, the Cubs/Tribco. make SO MUCH off things which aren't included in the actual profitability/revenue sheets, that it would be virtually impossible to calculate the real value.

 

Bottom line, the Cubs are a cash cow. Plain and simple.

Can you back that up with some facts and figures? The Cubs are profitable, but hardly a "cash cow". Their spending is in line or above comparable teams not named the Yankees or Red Sox. Every other team in their revenue range is also associated with a cable outlet. ANd if they make any profits from their ticket agency, it's likely it's in the 6 digit range, not 7 digits. Yes, there are some things that companies do to get the desired bottom line, but the net revenues recognized by baseball is 170 mil, and the player costs of 106 mil is indisputable. They still have a front office and have to pay MacPhail, Hendry, dusty, and all of the scouts; the people in the ticket office; security, ushers; toilet papaper, water for the urinals, repairs etc.

 

Forbes estimates are based on tax records and information from MLB baseball, so the profit numbers should be pretty close.

 

I've got nothing to back it up aside from common sense (not intended to sound arrogant). But if you don't want to take my word for it, take it from the rest of the MLB. If I'm not mistaken, many a baseball execs were clamoring over how the Cubs were able to shield revenue being that the TribCo owns both. Maybe that has been resolved since then, but I'm sure it was a problem.

 

As for the other aable networks (which don't even come CLOSE to WGNs coverage, as it is offered is the basic cable/satellite packages across much of the US), its kind of hard to compare them to WGN since their SOLE PURPOSE of existence is to broadcast the team's games. Not only that, but I believe the team's own the cable site which means MLB can monitor the ENTIRE channel's revenue as a source of income. With WGN this is not the case. The Cubs are simply a part of the programming package, which in my estimation, would make it MUCH more difficult to scrutinize the specific revenue. By no means am a proclaiming to know EVERYTHING, but I don't think it's to drastic in suggesting the Cubs have more ways to funnel money than most teams. IMO, the Cubs have maybe the most uniquely structured franchise (as is WHO owns them, and what that means for exposure) in all of sports. The only reasonable comparison (in my mind) may be the Braves.

[vaball]

So the most profitable MLB team last season was the Devil Rays, tied with the Indians....

 

The Devil Rays are gonna be the next Clippers.