Giants To Turn $7-10M Profit On Season Thanks To Playoff Run

The MLB Giants "were braced to lose $4 million to $5 million before their playoff run began," but "thanks to their postseason success, they stand to end the year $7 million to $10 million in the black," according to team sources cited by Matier & Ross of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Giants President & COO Larry Baer: "The biggest financial opportunity is the way 2010 can be parlayed into 2011." Baer said that the Giants "have already taken deposits from 3,500 new season-ticket holders, to add to their current base of 21,000" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/27). ESPN.com's Jayson Stark wrote there is a "feeling in AT&T Park these days -- a passion, a buzz, a decibel level -- that's hard to describe," and it is "not just because the World Series is coming to town." Every once in a while in sports, the "right team shows up in the right metropolis at exactly the right place in time," and it has happened in S.F. with an "eclectic collection of no-name scrapmeisters." Comcast SportsNet Bay Area Giants studio analyst and former MLBer F.P. Santangelo: "I've never seen anything like this. ... We've been doing pregame shows outside the ballpark, and it's bedlam" (ESPN.com, 10/26). In N.Y., George Vecsey writes, “A lot of the Bay Area seems somewhat stunned to be rooting for the Giants, this late into football season or any time. The Giants sell their share of tickets, of course, but nobody expected this kind of buzz, this late in October” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/26).

WIRED FOR SOUND: In S.F., Patrick Hoge noted AT&T Park is "going to be one Giant telecommunications hotspot" starting tonight when the Rangers-Giants World Series begins. The Giants and AT&T have "increased the number of Wi-Fi transmitters to more than 300 inside the park, up from about 270 during the regular season." In addition, AT&T has put a "cell station on wheels" in a nearby parking lot. Giants Senior VP & Chief Information Officer Bill Schlough noted that the ballpark's Wi-Fi network "has been getting used by at least 10 percent of the 43,000 people filling the stadium," up more than 100% over last season (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/25).

CHANGING PERCEPTION: ESPN DALLAS' Jim Reeves wrote the "new Rangers are on the verge of becoming world champions and changing the perception of this franchise forever." Rangers President Nolan Ryan: "If we can win, I think it will put us on the radar screen on how the Rangers are perceived throughout baseball. It could help us by attracting the attention of potential free agents who might not otherwise have taken us seriously." Reeves wrote the "most immediate impact from the Rangers' winning a World Series is the effect it may have" on P Cliff Lee, who will be a free agent after the season. But "with or without Lee in the future, a world championship on their resume can only bring added confidence and credibility to the Rangers, both the players and franchise." They "just signed a 20-year TV rights deal with Fox that will bring somewhere between" $1.5-2B, and the "extra provided by all the unexpected postseason games won't hurt a bit either." The Rangers "shouldn't be cash-poor for a while, like they had been for the last years of the Tom Hicks regime" (ESPNDALLAS.com, 10/26). Meanwhile, in Dallas, Evan Grant notes the Rangers, before the first home game of the ALDS against the Rays, "brought all their scouts to the field and recognized them in front of the sellout crowd." Grant: "Perhaps no team in the majors reflects the relevance of scouting more than the Rangers. With a limited budget over the last four years, the Rangers have had to use scouts to find players via every means possible" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/27).

BUSY DAY: In Dallas, Mike Heika reported the Stars tried to move their Saturday home game against the Sabres "to an afternoon start time to avoid going head to head" with World Series Game Three at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The Stars even got KTXA-Ind "to agree to the move." But the Sabres play the Thrashers Friday night, and the NHL "will not allow a day game for a team that had to travel the night before" (DALLASNEWS.com, 10/26).