MLB owners lost more than $700M during the '94 and '95
seasons, according to financial data released by the
Commissioner's Office to the AP. The 28 teams had operating
losses of $376M in '94, and preliminary estimates show the teams
lost $326M last year. As a result of the strike and the
resulting loss of national TV money, operating revenue dropped
35% in '94 from a record $1.87B to $1.21B. Revenue rebounded 12%
to $1.36B last season. Operating expenses dropped 14% in '94
from $1.83B to $1.58B, then rose 6% to $1.68B in '95. The
players lost about $243M in '94 $229.7M in salary and about $13M
in performance bonuses. In '95, they lost about $90M (AP/ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 4/11). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes, "The
figures are imposing, but not surprising." Orioles Owner Peter
Angelos: "It may have been more than [$702M], but hopefully,
that's all behind us. I think that both sides recognize the
hazards of the old approach" (Baltimore SUN, 4/11).
THE NUMBERS: AP tracks MLB's financial performance.
Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, except for '94 which
is to the nearest million. Figures for '95 are based on a
preliminary estimate (Baltimore SUN, 4/11):
YEAR REVENUES EXPENSES PROFITS/LOSSES
1985 $ 717,813,000 $ 724,896,000 $ (-7,083,000)
1986 791,875,000 780,347,000 11,528,000
1987 910,877,000 809,933,000 100,944,000
1988 1,007,519,000 885,915,000 121,604,000
1989 1,241,059,000 1,026,550,000 214,509,000
1990 1,336,530,000 1,193,663,000 142,867,000
1991 1,537,395,000 1,438,442,000 98,953,000
1992 1,663,367,000 1,641,146,000 22,221,000
1993 1,865,561,000 1,829,479,000 36,082,000
1994 1,208,000,000 1,584,000,000 (-376,000,000)
1995 1,354,556,000 1,680,107,000 (-325,551,000)
WEATHER REPORT: BOSTON GLOBE columnist Bob Ryan appeared on
"CBS This Morning" outside a frosty Fenway Park to discuss the
early start to the MLB season and this year's weather problems.
Ryan: "It's ludicrous. It's just unnatural and the only way it
can ever be avoided is, if reason prevails, the Players
Association and the owners sit down and say, `OK, we've got to
reduce the schedule and yes, you fellows will have to accept some
sort of commensurate pay cut.' ... They could play double-headers
during the season. But no -- no one will do that. It's
economically inviable so we don't play double-headers anymore.
If people really wanted to address this, they could. But you're
asking either the owners or the players or both to cut back and
tighten that financial belt a little bit, and I don't see that
happening very soon" ("CBS This Morning," 4/11).
