This week, the major-league record sellout streak at Jacobs Field might end. Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan said last month the team's sellout streak would be in jeopardy. Though Opening Day was reportedly sold out, tickets are still available for games throughout the Indians' opening week.
The Pirates and the Brewers open their new parks this season and will be looking to start their own sellout streak. But they should note that the Indians finished first in their division from 1995 to 1999.
A sampling of sellout streaks of new ballparks:
Park Games Dates Total Attendance
Jacobs Field 455 6/12/95-present 19.77 million
Coors Field 203 6/13/95-9/6/97 10.24 million
Pac Bell Park 82 4/11/00-present 3.35 million
Camden Yards 65 5/23/92-4/20/93 3.13 million
Safeco Field 6 7/15/99-7/20/99 283,000
The Portland Trail Blazers hold the NBA record for consecutive sellouts, selling out 814 games from April 9, 1977 to Nov 20, 1995. Some 9.4 million fans attended games during the stretch.
Payrolls and ticket prices
Many fans believe higher payrolls lead to higher ticket prices. Actually, there is no direct relationship between the two. Professional sports executives, like any other business people, have to make decisions. Do they want to charge less and put more fannies in the seats? Will fans go to more games because the team inked a hot player in the offseason? Can they get away with charging more and pull in more gate revenue? Those are but a few of the factors teams consider when deciding on ticket prices.
The Red Sox, for instance, have long charged more because they have the fewest seats in the majors, not because they recently signed free-agent Manny Ramirez. The Yankees can charge more because they have won three of four World Series titles and play in arguably the hottest (let alone the largest) sports market -- not because they need more gate profits to pay for Derek Jeter's new contract. The Pirates likely will be in the bottom third of the league's payroll, but they will cash in on their new ballpark this season.
Team Avg. Ticket Rank Est. payroll rank
Red Sox $36.08 1 2
Yankees $28.90 2 1
Mets $26.53 3 4
Tigers $23.90 4 18
Giants $23.38 5 15
Mariners $22.87 6 9
Pirates $21.66 10 19
Rangers $19.81 13 8
Rockies $16.50 20 12
Dodgers $15.43 21 3
Source: Team Marketing Report and Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal
All bad games are not equal
Boo Roger Clemens more for a bad start than Derek Jeter for a three-game slump. That's because Jeter makes less over a three-game stretch than Clemens makes in a single start. David Cone made $400,000 per game last season en route to his 4-14 record. His teammate Bernie Williams just $87,639 per game. Here's a look at what the highest-paid pitchers and position players make per game, averaged over the life of their contracts (includes deferred money):
Player Avg. salary per game*
Roger Clemens $15,450,000 $468,181
Mike Hampton $15,125,000 $458,333
Kevin Brown $15,000,000 $454,545
Alex Rodriguez $25,200,000 $155,555
Manny Ramirez $20,000,000 $123,456
Derek Jeter $18,900,000 $116,666
* Based on 33 games for starting pitchers, 162 games for position players.
Fixing the leaks
Harris Interactive recently asked fans what remedies, if any, would make baseball "more competitive." Here are some of the interesting answers:
43 percent suggested a strictly enforced cap on players salaries
40 percent suggested a strictly enforced cap on team salaries
29 percent suggested an equal distribution of profits among teams
17 percent suggested a high tax for MLB teams with higher payrolls
14 percent suggested a minimum payroll to ensure competiveness
7 percent suggested disbanding up to four franchises
Of those fans that would like to see Major League Baseball eliminate four franchises, here were their top teams they thought should be disbanded:
Expos: 62 percent
Devil Rays: 60 percent
Marlins: 46 percent
Brewers: 36 percent
Twins: 26 percent
Royals: 21 percent
Padres: 15 percent
Pirates: 15 percent
Looks like the Brewers and the Pirates got their ballparks at the perfect time.
Thanks, public
In the last decade, 13 major league ballparks have been constructed, now including Miller Park in Milwaukee and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. With the exception of the Giants' Pac Bell Park and the Braves' Turner Field, all of the stadiums have been built thanks to billions of dollars in public funds. Here's a list of ballparks built in the past decade, ranked by percentage of the stadium's cost financed by the local taxpayers.
Park Public cost Pct. of total cost Debut
Comiskey Park $189.6 million 100 percent 1991
Camden Yards $257.7 million 95.7 percent 1992
Coors Field $226 million 93 percent 1995
Jacobs Field $177.7 million 85.5 percent 1994
PNC Park $217.6 million* 84.7 percent* 2001
Miller Park $303.3 million* 77 percent* 2001
*estimated
Source: All figures have been converted to 2000 dollars by Raymond J. Keating, author of "You're Out, Corporate Welfare for Major League Baseball."
Hello, my name is ...
Baseball owners, much like in the NHL and NBA, have turned over at a rapid rate in the last fifteen years. Only two owners -- George Steinbrenner and the Seligs -- owned their team when Richard Nixon was still in office. In fact, only 30 percent of the league's owners owned their teams 10 years ago and there's been 11 changes in ownership since 1995. So who's been waiting the longest to win a World Series? The Yawkey Trust likely will give up its majority stake during the season and won't get the chance to claim a title.
The Seligs, Brewers, 30 years
Yawkey Trust, Red Sox, 24 years
Tribune Company, Cubs, 20 years
Jerry Reinsdorf, White Sox, 20 years
Bill Giles & David Montgomery, Phillies, 19 years
Fred Wilpon & Nelson Doubleday, Mets, 14 years (purchased the team in November 1986)
Hit sign, win suit
One of the best advertising values in sports was gobbled up by Sears this year. According to the Chicago Tribune, Sears outbid Torco Oil for the billboard rights on the building behind Wrigley's right-field wall. The glistening Torco sign has been a staple of Wrigley for more than 15 years and because of the lack of advertising in and around Wrigley -- the Budweiser hut is really the only other corporate icon screaming at you -- the value is extremely good. It's not exactly the icon that the Citgo sign is to Fenway Park, but it's close. The deal was reportedly worth over $400,000 a year to the owners of the apartment building to which the sign is attached.
Darren Rovell covers sports business for ESPN.com. He can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com
