The San Francisco Giants, now with a third World Series title in five seasons, will look well beyond the field to fuel growth for the organization.
The club’s baseball revenue is all but maxed out, particularly with an active sellout streak at AT&T Park that dates to Oct. 1, 2010, and a long-term local TV contract with Comcast SportsNet lasting to 2032.
After championships in 2010 and 2012, team executives talked about elevating the Giants brand as a global force more akin to that of the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers. That work continues, but team executives are more than ever eyeing Giants Enterprises, a 15-year-old subsidiary created to find additional uses for AT&T Park, to become the economic growth engine of the franchise.
The initiative will take on several forms, Giants President and Chief Executive Larry Baer said. A proposed $1.6 billion mixed-use development project near the ballpark, dubbed Mission Rock, is a key part of it. But it also involves investing in other companies, such as an equity stake it holds in ticketing analytics company Qcue; potential joint business ventures with key sponsors; expanding its involvement with outside sports organizations, such as what it has done recently to handle ticketing and marketing for the America’s Cup; and growing its new private social venue, The Gotham Club.
 |
|
 |
|
 |
After celebrating three titles in five years, the Giants will look for growth outside of baseball.
|
The Giants are also mulling “maybe buying another team,” Baer said. The franchise several years ago explored buying into the Golden State Warriors along with Peter Guber and Joe Lacob, but a deal ultimately did not materialize. That, however, did not quench the Giants’ desires to invest in other sports.
“In five years, we need to be a lot more than just a baseball team,” Baer said. “We’re obviously a private business, but I really think about us almost like a public company that has to show growth on a regular, quarterly basis. So that’s the question. How do we still grow?
“And we grow by being very entrepreneurial, working closely with our partners, and looking for opportunities where our skills can apply.”
Baer, as the designated control executive for the franchise, leads an ownership group made up of 30 investors including top partner Charles B. Johnson.
Running point on the business development efforts for the Giants will be Alfonso Felder, the club’s senior vice president who oversees Giants Enterprises.
“Being located here, around all this innovation from people like Apple and Facebook and so forth, is very inspiring. It pushes us to do the same,” Baer said. “It’s the kind of culture we’re looking to have as well.”
