Rebuilding Process: Pirates Using Profit To Help Pay Debt

Coonelly Says Pirates Using Profit To Pay Down Team's $100M-Plus Debt

Pirates President Frank Coonelly said that the team, which turned a profit in '07 and "will do so again this year," will use the profit to "pay down the franchise's debt," according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW. Forbes in its annual valuation of MLB franchises, reported the Pirates in '07 had an operating income of $17.6M, ranking 18th among MLB teams. Coonelly said Forbes' figures "are never right," but he said the team is profitable. He added that the team's actual profit is "much lower, taking into account annual interest payments" between $5-7M on the franchise's $100M-plus in debts. Coonelly said that when "interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are thrown into the mix," the team ranks No. 27 in revenue. The Pirates this season expect to receive about $35M through MLB's revenue-sharing system, and Coonelly said, "The revenue-sharing plan says you have to use those proceeds to improve your performance on the field. That's written extraordinarily broadly, and we did that on purpose. Paying down debt can help you improve on the field" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 4/18).