MLB management has made much in the last month of the league surpassing $6 billion in total annual revenue for the first time. To that end, this meeting in part celebrated the final figure for 2007 coming in at $6.075 billion.
Beneath that macro-level surface, though, there is more good news for club owners: Their original investment in MLB Advanced Media has now been paid back in full.
The 30 clubs each received dividends on their original, 2000 investment to form baseball’s interactive arm for the second consecutive year, with the total outlay of about $80 million to start MLBAM now having been returned, amounting to nearly $3 million per team.
MLBAM, after some significant hurdles initially in both operations and reputation, now stands as an unqualified leader in the digital media and overall sports industries. Revenue for the company has soared in recent years, surpassing $450 million this year. Annual profits, until last year, had been reinvested in the company, and future profits may also be returned to further build the company.
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| Astros owner Drayton McLane said MLBAM
has given the league a global presence. |
The dividend payments for both 2006 and 2007 were made on an individual basis with no future commitments attached.
“[MLBAM] has given us a lot of great rewards, financially and, more importantly, helping to expand our presence all over the globe,” said Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane, a member of the MLBAM board of directors and one of the game’s longer-tenured owners present for the birth of the company. “It’s been a great investment.”
NEW CURRENCY CHALLENGE FOR JAYS:The Toronto Blue Jays saved more than $4 million (Canadian) during the 2007 season due to a historic run-up this summer in the Canadian dollar to near-parity with the American dollar. The club now faces a more complex issue: How best to plan club operations against the sharply increased volatility in the currency markets.
The Canadian dollar, as of press time, was worth about $1.02 U.S., a massive increase from 2001-02, when the Canadian dollar was worth about 62 U.S. cents. Earlier this month, the Canadian dollar reached a peak of about $1.08 U.S.
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| The Toronto Blue Jays are figuring up some off-the-field
strategy for currency markets. |
The Blue Jays stand to save about $730,000 (Canadian) for each 1-cent rise in the Canadian dollar, said
Paul Godfrey, club president and chief executive, up from previous projections of $600,000 (Canadian). But with no player expenses to be paid out until the start of next season, the issue for the team now is using the offseason to explore possibly buying up American currency to protect against potential weakness in the Canadian dollar in 2008.
“You talk to 10 analysts and get at least nine different opinions about what’s going to happen going forward,” Godfrey said. “There seems to be a lot more churn and movement in the markets now, so we’re exploring whether it’s a good idea to hedge some currency and guard against that.”
The team will receive a final currency equalization aid payment from MLB this year, for inequities seen last year, before the program terminates by mutual consent.
NEW POLL LIFTS A’s: Oakland A’s owner Lewis Wolff acknowledged last week he thought it might be too early to release a club-commissioned poll indicating that 62 percent of Fremont, Calif., residents were in favor of the planned Cisco Field and ballpark village construction projects. However, he said he felt the results would help further the project, which carries a projected opening of 2011 for the ballpark.
“At this stage of the project, this was definitely eye-opening,” Wolff said, referring in part to traditional resistance to many stadium and arena projects until much later in the development process. “But I think this proves we’ve been very diligent and very consistent in reaching out to all the various constituencies in Fremont.”
Wolff, now beginning a 12- to 18-month environmental review process for Cisco Field, faces a big decision as to when to order detailed working drawings for the overall project. The construction renderings will cost up to $30 million, he said, and there is some fear about making such a big outlay before receiving full project approvals from Fremont officials. As such, there is a chance the project could be retargeted for a 2012 opening.
