MLB Media: MLBAM Thriving In The Revenue Column

Tickets.com Helps MLBAM Post Revenue Boost

Revenues for MLBAM jumped from $36M in ’01 to $135M last year, and “will likely exceed $235[M] in 2005, thanks in part to the March acquisition of Tickets.com, which will add about $60[M] in revenue,” according to Tom Walsh of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. There was “talk last year of selling all or part of MLBAM in a public stock offering,” but the MLBAM BOD decided against it. The unit “broke even in 2002 and has been profitable since” ‘03. MLBAM President & CEO Bob Bowman “projects revenue growth of at least 30% a year and cash flow improvement of nearly 50% annually for the next five years.” MLBAM sold 1.8 million tickets online in ’01, and this year about 18 million, or “half of all non-season-ticket purchases, will be made online” (FREE PRESS, 7/12).

XM, NO STATIC AT ALL? In N.Y., Lee Jenkins notes that since XM in October announced that it would carry MLB games, it “has gained nearly two million subscribers overall and expects to add another million by the end of the season.” But Jenkins writes, “XM is not yet a finished product. Some customers in high-density areas have had trouble getting reception, and others wonder why they have to endure the home team’s broadcast when their favorite club is on the road. Only one game a day is broadcast in Spanish even though Latino fans are among the most devoted” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/12).

MEDIA DARLING: In DC, George Solomon wrote that while Orioles Owner Peter Angelos “remains No. 1 on the list of unpopular sports figures in town, MASN analyst Ron Darling is moving up fast.” The mention of Darling’s name to fans “draws immediate and opinionated responses.” One fan said of him, “The worst”; another viewer said, “He’s getting better all the time.” WTEM-AM Sports Dir Andy Pollin “has been a frequent critic, remarking on the air that Darling ‘is a master of the obvious.’” Darling said, “I feel pressure to improve. I’ve heard the criticism ... and I’m trying to take it constructively. I come off quiet, but I have a strong will” (WASHINGTON POST, 7/10).