Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio said one of the reasons he decided to by the team was because baseball "has always been a passion of mine," according to a Q&A with Ken Rosenthal of FOXSPORTS.com. The following are excerpts from the interview:
Q: Why did you decide to buy a baseball team?
Attanasio: When I first got involved with the Brewers, I thought, "Gee, it would be really neat to make a small investment in the commissioner's team, get known to the folks in the sport over 20 years. Then, when I was ready to retire in my mid-60s, maybe I could become a controlling owner of a team, who knows." ... The next thing I know, I'm in the finals with three or four other bidders. At that point, I thought, "When are you ever going to get an opportunity to buy a major-league baseball team? You'd better get it done."
Q: Over the years, there have been times when you have been hands-on, maybe more hands-on than most owners. When do you know it is the proper time to exert more influence than you otherwise might?
Attanasio: I don't know that you ever know when the right time is. ... When I insert myself into the process a little bit, it's a function of two things: Passion, and in some cases, I was too inexperienced to know better, but it turned out to be the right move. Now I worry because I have experience to draw on, and I'm more patient.
Q: The local broadcast revenue challenge. Your deal is locked in. Yet, it's going to be dwarfed by other deals. How do you make it work?
Attanasio: It goes through 2020. At that time, we made a short-term extension of eight years. I wanted to do it as short as we could. FOX wanted to do it for as long as they could. It's one of the reasons the CBA negotiations are so important. Commissioner (Bud) Selig and his negotiating team last time ... they were trying to vector to competitive balance. It's critical. Notwithstanding this disparity in broadcast revenues, we've had terrific competitive balance (FOXSPORTS.com, 3/14).
