The MLB Giants have "muscled up into a multi-business power hitter with holdings in sports, real estate, media, events and technology, gaining a place among professional sports' elite," according to Ron Leuty of the S.F. BUSINESS TIMES. The team in '17 will "make its final installment on the loan it took out to finance AT&T Park, wiping an annual payment" of $18-20M off its books. Meanwhile, the Giants "have received voters' approval to proceed with a multibillion-dollar office, housing and retail project beyond right field." Giants Enterprises also is "spreading its events-hosting wings beyond" the ballpark to its Single-A California League San Jose Giants affiliate, as well as to Scottsdale Stadium, its Spring Training home in Arizona. Giants Enterprises "even got a piece" of the Warriors' "record-chasing TV bonanza as the only team with an ownership stake" in CSN Bay Area, which airs Warriors games in the market. Giants President & CEO Larry Baer said, "There's nothing wrong with being a good team. But we have the ability to do more and we have the skill sets to do more." Leuty notes instead of "throwing the extra cash into player salaries" following the payoff on AT&T Park's mortgage next year, the money is "tagged for work in and around the ballpark." The ticket office "received a seven-figure remodeling ahead of this season," and the team spent $2M on "new electronic signage at AT&T Park and a new scoreboard" at Scottsdale Stadium. Baer said that the goal is to "build a Giants organization trying to win on multiple fields." Baer: "There's customer service, community service, the tech business and dynamic pricing, the real estate business, the content business. You put all that together, that's who we are" (S.F. BUSINESS TIMES, 4/8 issue).
