Olney - Orioles Facing a Run of Tough Choices

[TradeAngelos]

And he pays rent and dues based on the Oriole Park revenues, so one would think bettering the Stadium and bringing in more fans would ultimately put more money in the state's pocket.

I commend you for being one of the last holdouts, and sticking to your "Peter is a swell guy" guns for as long as possible while 95% have abandoned ship.

Make sure you turn out the lights when you leave.

[MurphDogg]

Didn't needed repairs (scoreboard) sit unfixed while he fought with the MSA?

I don't remember not having a functional scoreboard. Repairs were delayed while he fought to get what he had contractually bargained for, but it seems pretty clear that the delay is the fault of the Maryland Stadium Authority and not Angelos. The Orioles were hardly the last MLB team with an HD scoreboard. Maybe he could have used his own money to make the upgrades but that would have opened a whole new can of worms with the MSA, because the negotiations came down to the equivalence of the upgrade to that of M&T Bank Stadium.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't remember not having a functional scoreboard. Repairs were delayed while he fought to get what he had contractually bargained for, but it seems pretty clear that the delay is the fault of the Maryland Stadium Authority and not Angelos. The Orioles were hardly the last MLB team with an HD scoreboard. Maybe he could have used his own money to make the upgrades but that would have opened a whole new can of worms with the MSA, because the negotiations came down to the equivalence of the upgrade to that of M&T Bank Stadium.

From what I read there were something like three replacement bulbs in the country by the time they took down the old on. I will see if I can dig it up.

...A minute later in our story...

http://talk.baltimoresun.com/topic/18207-an-update-on-the-idiotic-petty-little-jumbotron-case/

Club, stadium authority exploring options for replacing damaged screen at Camden Yards

The 15-year-old video board at Camden Yards soon may be unable to present a full picture due to the malfunction of irreplaceable parts, say Maryland Stadium Authority officials, who are embroiled in a dispute with the Orioles over how to replace the screen.

The stadium authority and Orioles plan to use the Sony JumboTron for tomorrow night's game against the Washington Nationals, but it's possible that one rectangular segment could be black or devoid of any image..."

[MurphDogg]

From what I read there were something like three replacement bulbs in the country by the time they took down the old on. I will see if I can dig it up.

...A minute later in our story...

http://talk.baltimoresun.com/topic/18207-an-update-on-the-idiotic-petty-little-jumbotron-case/

Hmm, I do vaguely remember concerns about the scoreboard malfunctioning but it didn't actually happen, the board worked the whole time and thanks to Angelos the Orioles have a state of the art HD scoreboard. If the MSA had bought that 1.5 million dollar scoreboard it would have been instantly outdated and the Orioles would have certainly needed an upgrade by now, as every stadium has an HD board at this point. Squeezing an extra year out of the original scoreboard saved Angelos and the MSA money down the line.

[MurphDogg]

Here is the outcome of the story:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-10-15/sports/0710150084_1_stadium-authority-orioles-camden-yards

I for one am glad that the Orioles didn't end up having to replace a scoreboard after only 5 years, or be the last team with a new non-HD scoreboard.

[weams]

Here is the outcome of the story:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-10-15/sports/0710150084_1_stadium-authority-orioles-camden-yards

I for one am glad that the Orioles didn't end up having to replace a scoreboard after only 5 years, or be the last team with a new non-HD scoreboard.

I think as fans we wish that Peter would be less of the fighter, and more of a giver. To us.

[Can_of_corn]

I think as fans we wish that Peter would be less of the fighter, and more of a giver. To us.

He's a lawyer and he treats every transaction like it's a case.

There was a not insignificant chance that the board could have suffered a catastrophic failure.

[MurphDogg]

There was a not insignificant chance that the board could have suffered a catastrophic failure.

I don't equate running "perilously low on spare parts" with catastrophic failure. I don't think anything that happens with a scoreboard short of it exploding and injuring people could be described as catastrophic.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't equate running "perilously low on spare parts" with catastrophic failure. I don't think anything that happens with a scoreboard short of it exploding and injuring people could be described as catastrophic.

The parts didn't exist. That escalates any number of problems to the catastrophic level.

He rolled the dice and won his victory, good for him.

It wasn't a risk I would have taken.

[Dipper9]

I don't think revenues drive the amount the Orioles pay in rent. If they did then we wouldn't have to fight with them to make the improvements. Improving the stadium brings in more ticket sales, to an extent (e.g. the increased attendance in 2012 on the statue days), which becomes more money for Peter to bank.

I ran a search yesterday about who pays for what and found an article on it. If I have time later I'll see if I can find it again. It was tied into the renovations in 2012 and stated how much the Orioles (ie Peter) had to pay to lease the Stadium.

I commend you for being one of the last holdouts, and sticking to your "Peter is a swell guy" guns for as long as possible while 95% have abandoned ship.

Make sure you turn out the lights when you leave.

Peter is a "swell guy." He is NOT a good owner, but he's a hell of a person. Shame that people like you cannot see the difference in a person vs a person's job!

[Mayor McCheese]

I don't think revenues drive the amount the Orioles pay in rent. If they did then we wouldn't have to fight with them to make the improvements. Improving the stadium brings in more ticket sales, to an extent (e.g. the increased attendance in 2012 on the statue days), which becomes more money for Peter to bank.

The big list of improvements that were done in 2012 were due to the fact the MLB required all teams to use revenue shared funds towards improvements to the club (stadium, TV, etc.). There have been cases made that teams using the money to cover payroll.... now the CBA requires that money to be documented on how it was spent.

Who knows how much the Orioles actually received over the past decade but its very clear that PA never used that money to make improvements until being forced too.

[pdiddy]

I ran a search yesterday about who pays for what and found an article on it. If I have time later I'll see if I can find it again. It was tied into the renovations in 2012 and stated how much the Orioles (ie Peter) had to pay to lease the Stadium.

Peter is a "swell guy." He is NOT a good owner, but he's a hell of a person. Shame that people like you cannot see the difference in a person vs a person's job!

He's also not an awful owner. Guys that see Angelos as the devil have short memories, aren't old enough to remember the prior regime, and/or haven't looked around in other cities very much. Could he be better? Of course. Could also be a hell of a lot worse.

[Camden_yardbird]

He's also not an awful owner. Guys that see Angelos as the devil have short memories, aren't old enough to remember the prior regime, and/or haven't looked around in other cities very much. Could he be better? Of course. Could also be a hell of a lot worse.

I think Angelos is holding back, but I challenge anyone to find an owner in any sport who increased payroll by 40% in the last four years.

[Can_of_corn]

I think Angelos is holding back, but I challenge anyone to find an owner in any sport who increased payroll by 40% in the last four years.

Since 2009?

Dodgers: 100,458,101---216,302,909

Nationals: 59,328,000---112,431,770

[MurphDogg]

Since 2009?

Dodgers: 100,458,101---216,302,909

Nationals: 59,328,000---112,431,770

The Dodgers clearly don't count, they don't have the same owner.