How much playoff revenue do teams get?

[Frobby]

There’s been some discussion of how the Orioles’ revenues could be boosted if they make the playoffs.  I did some searching around to get an idea of the order of magnitude.  

For the two WS teams, it’s a lot.  It depends on ticket prices and how many games get played, but it looks approximately like this:

WS teams: $17-20 mm

League championship series losers: $9-10 mm

Divisional series losers: $3-7 mm

First round losers: $1-2 mm

If you want the details of how it works, this old Fangraphs article explains it (the expanded format changes it just a bit because the opening series are longer).  Long and short, the players get a 60% cut of gate receipts for whatever is the minimum number of games in a series (e.g., the first 4 games of a possible 7 game series), but nothing more if the series goes beyond the minimum.  The commissioners office gets 15% of the gate receipts for all games.  And the two teams participating in the series split the rest equally.  So, the teams cash in nicely if the series goes the maximum number of games, and it also helps if the participants are in markets that can charge high prices for playoff tickets.  For example, in 2012 the O’s got about $6.8 mm for losing 3-2 in the ALDS, while Oakland got only $2.6 mm for the same accomplishment.  Why?  Because the O’s played the Yankees, whose tickets are far more expensive, so revenues from that series were drastically higher.   So, if you’re going to lose a playoff series, lose it to a big-market team!

Long and short, if the O’s lose in the first playoff round, the bump they get won’t be that significant.  But if they get deeper and the series run beyond the minimum number of games, it can be a nice chunk of change.  

 

[brucewayne]

Angelos is probably already huddling with some shifty lawyer trying to squeeze out as much money for himself. 

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, brucewayne said:

Angelos is probably already huddling with some shifty lawyer trying to squeeze out as much money for himself. 

I thought he wasn’t on speaking terms with his brother.  

[oriole]

Obviously this is just extra money for John. He’s poor didn’t ya know 

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I thought he wasn’t on speaking terms with his brother.  

Frobby’s got zingers!! 

[waroriole]

John Angelos after playoffs: