Business of Baseball Update

Brian Borawski frequently publishes a nice business of baseball round-up for The Hardball Times.

In this installment he covers:

• The sale of the Nationals is complete
• Baseball is thriving
• Harold Reynold’s firing by ESPN
• Blackouts of Orioles/Nationals
• Bonds not indicted (very good news for Bonds, I doubt he’ll ever be indicted)
• Yankees get approval for their new stadium

Here’s an untapped market for fans

Team plans cemetery for die-hard fans

A German soccer club plans to open a cemetery next to its stadium so that die-hard fans can rest in peace alongside their favorite team.

Hamburg SV, a Bundesliga side from the northern port city, aims to open the graveyard some 50 feet from the stadium’s main entrance, said deputy chairman ChristianReichert.

“For a large number of people, it’s important to be close to the club after their lives are over,” he said. “The cemetery will have the look of a small, open stadium.”

With 42,000 registered supporters at the club and just 500 graves up for grabs, competition for places promises to be fierce. Officials have already begun taking reservations.

You could offer cup-holders in tombstones to encourage tailgating.;-)

The Success of the Yankees

The New York Times posts a story chronicling the success of George Steinbrenner’s NY Yankees.

That perennial drive is a big reason, analysts say, that the Yankees have broken new financial ground on the field and off. Bankers, analysts and others familiar with the team’s finances say the franchise is now worth about $1 billion, nearly 70 percent more than the next most valuable team, theRedSox, and nearly three times more than the average major league team is worth.

Making the most of a winning tradition and their home in the nation’s biggest city and media market, the Yankees generate nearly $300 million in annual revenue, according to an individual with knowledge of the team’s finances. He requested anonymity because of his continuing professional relationship with the team.

But as Mr. Steinbrenner’s stewardship of the nation’s most-fabled baseball franchise stretches into its fourth decade, his win-at-all-costs business model appears stressed. Yes, the Yankees earn the most money, but analysts say they also spend the most, giving the team razor-thin profit margins. And the Yankees offer such a pre-eminent model for how to milk money from a sports team that its well-being has become a proxy for the financial prospects — and limitations — of professional baseball as a whole.

You know, the whole thing kind of took off after he hired George Costanza as his assistant to the traveling secretary.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!