2024 Forbes Report: O’s Had $99 mm in operating income in 2023

[Frobby]

From Forbes:

REVENUE $328M ($264 mm in 2022)

OPERATING INCOME $99M ($67 mm)

PLAYER EXPENSES $101M ($83 mm)

GATE RECEIPTS $71M ($45 mm)

“Revenue and operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) are for the 2023 season and are net of revenue sharing, competitive balance taxes and stadium revenue used for debt service. Ownership stakes in regional sports networks, as well as related profits or losses, are excluded from our valuations and operating results, as are investments in real estate and other businesses.”  (Source)

[crowmst3k!]

So, theoretically the Orioles could add about 90 million in player salaries and still be in the black on paper (this is not including any MASN profits).  

Interesting.  

 

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, crowmst3k! said:

So, theoretically the Orioles could add about 90 million in player salaries and still be in the black on paper (this is not including any MASN profits).  

Interesting.  

 

I would also expect local revenue to be up this year.

[Pickles]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I would also expect local revenue to be up this year.

Attendance is going to increase 25% this year.  Book it.

[beantownrefugee]

Amazing.  The Orioles derive only 22% of their revenue from gate receipts.  Add in a bit for merch & concessions.  That still leaves the majority of the revenue from other sources, mostly media I assume.  So no one could show up to the games, and the team would still break even, assuming media revenues didn't decrease with in-person interest.  Very changed landscape in sports.  NFL is probably skewed even more towards media revenues.  WWE (a business which I follow closely) is very similar.  Back in the 1980s and before, revenue was derived from attendance.  Not anymore. It's perhaps on the order of 10-15%.

[Satyr3206]

I knew they had the money. Now lets see if they use it to win a World Series.

[Can_of_corn]

10 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Attendance is going to increase 25% this year.  Book it.

So 2013-2014 levels?  Seems doable.

[Philip]

Please don’t sell naming rights.

I hate advertising on uniforms, But the worst is selling the right to Name the stadium: Enron field(oops) and so on.

God bless Fenway Park, which is just Fenway Park, and Yankee Stadium, which is Yankee stadium.

[Pickles]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

So 2013-2014 levels?  Seems doable.

I wrote before last season, fully expecting the O's to be competitive and in the playoff race all season, that if they didn't get to 2 million fans I had long-term reservations if the fans would ever come back.  They got to 1.9+, so that was close enough to assuage my concerns.

I fully expect them to get to 2.5 this year, or very close, which would give them the highest attendance since the Nats came to town.  2.5 gets them to about middle of the pack ML-wise.

If they can have long-term sustained success, I believe they could consistently draw 3 million a year, which would put them top 10 in the league.

That's what Rubenstein should be shooting for, imo.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Pickles said:

I wrote before last season, fully expecting the O's to be competitive and in the playoff race all season, that if they didn't get to 2 million fans I had long-term reservations if the fans would ever come back.  They got to 1.9+, so that was close enough to assuage my concerns.

I fully expect them to get to 2.5 this year, or very close, which would give them the highest attendance since the Nats came to town.  2.5 gets them to about middle of the pack ML-wise.

If they can have long-term sustained success, I believe they could consistently draw 3 million a year, which would put them top 10 in the league.

That's what Rubenstein should be shooting for, imo.

Not likely they can get to 3M because of the Nats. They drew so much from down in that area that is no longer coming here.

[Pickles]

8 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Not likely they can get to 3M because of the Nats. They drew so much from down in that area that is no longer coming here.

If we're consistently better than the Nats, and Rubenstein can use his DC contacts to entice business/corporations back to O's games, I think it's doable.

But it's basically a best case scenario, and will require a lot of things to go right- starting with on the field.

[Frobby]

Based on some of Rubenstein’s comments, I think you’re going to see some ticket giveaways to inner city kids (and maybe families) to try to build up the fan base within the city.  

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Based on some of Rubenstein’s comments, I think you’re going to see some ticket giveaways to inner city kids (and maybe families) to try to build up the fan base within the city.  

That's all well and good, and admirable, but what's far more important is winning the fans over from the DC suburbs who have disposable income.

[spleen1015]

4 minutes ago, Pickles said:

That's all well and good, and admirable, but what's far more important is winning the fans over from the DC suburbs who have disposable income.

It might be to you, but that doesn't mean it is to him. He's mentioned a few times that he wants to get minorities interested in baseball and coming to games.

[WarehouseChatter]

How high can the attendance go in ‘24? Can we get to 2.5M? Feels like that’s the big cutoff when I look at prior year attendance and those who draw well vs. the others.