The Mariners' move to Safeco Field last season "gave
the team its first profit" in the current ownership group's
7 1/2 year tenure, according to a team report cited by Modie
& Bruscas of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. Mariners
President Chuck Armstrong said that the team "had a modest
net profit of" $2.59M in '99, but it "would have lost" $6M
had it not moved to Safeco Field, "where attendance soared,
along with revenue from advertising, food, parking and
ticket sales." However, Armstrong noted that the profit
"merely reduced" the ownership group's aggregate operating
losses since '92 from $77M to $75M. The largest increase
for the Mariners in moving to Safeco was in their ad and
premium-seat revenue, which "shot up from" $4.7M in '98,
when the team lost $2.1M overall, to $13.3M last season.
Ticket revenue rose from $40M to $52M, while marketing and
merchandise revenue went from $2.9M to $5.2M, and
concessions and parking "nearly doubled" from $4.97M to
$9.5M. Overall, Armstrong estimated that "the half-season
in Safeco Field resulted in additional revenues of" $17.5M,
with a net cash benefit of $8.5M. If attendance "remains
high" in 2000, the Mariners "expect to make about" $6M in
their first full year at Safeco (SEATTLE P-I, 2/29).
