EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted October 1, 2004 http://www.fieldofschemes.com The Washington Post reports that once D.C.'s stadium bonds are retired (D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' office hopes this could be in as little as 20 years), the ballpark taxes would be rescinded, but the team would continue to pay its $5.5 million a year rent. According to my back-of-the-envelope (okay, I actually used an online present value calculator) calculations, this could be worth maybe another $15-20 million in present value, but not nearly enough to tip the balance of the overwhelmingly generous stadium deal that I reported on Tuesday. Speaking of generosity, the Post also quotes a source at last week's baseball executive council meetings as saying, "People were amazed that the District had done the deal that they did." Post writer Peter Whoriskey speculates that D.C. could have cut a much better deal for taxpayers, had they noticed that Virginia's competing bid was falling apart. It's not like it was exactly a secret. In the midst of an excellent analysis of D.C.'s sweetheart deal with MLB (and no, not just excellent because he quotes me), ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reveals that at least one sports marketing expert believes the team "can easily get $100 million for 25 years" in a naming-rights contract. That would knock another $1.5 million a year off the team's costs, or about $20 million in present value - nicely balancing out those future rent payments noted above. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus (no registration/subscription required for this one) notes that MLB's reported annual-revenue guarantee to Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos is "easily the worst deal MLB has made with anyone, ever": You can field a bad team (or the A's) for $40 million dollars. If you run a lean, mean organization, you can run your team's operations on another $40 million. Eighty million in expenses with $150 million in guaranteed revenues leaves $70 million a year in guaranteed profit. Teams have been destroyed for far less, run into the ground for the tiny guaranteed profits that baseball's misguided revenue sharing offered. Imagine what could happen with this sort of motherlode. Zumsteg foresees years of lawsuits, and ultimately an MLB buyout of the clause, either of which sounds like a pretty good bet. Bob "Nostradamus" Nightengale of Baseball Weekly reports that Angelos' compensation package will actually be "a sliding scale based on any decrease in attedance." But then, Nightengale has never been right about anything before. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports informed sources as saying "MLB could be stuck with this club anywhere from another six months to (better grab the smelling salts) two years." At best, if the D.C. city council passes a stadium bill quickly and then MLB picks a new owner shortly after that, the Expos could be in new hands by next spring - way too late to sign any free agents to improve this year's pathetic squad. Or, for that matter, to sell any tickets: "There's not one person working on selling a baseball ticket right now," one sports exec told Stark. "There's not one person working on selling a suite, or a marketing deal, or a sponsorship. And there's already too little time to do all of that right." Stark further notes that the pending Expos move is a good news/bad news scenario for those baseball boosters in San Jose, quoting another unnamed exec: "The precedent is now in place. So if they'll do it for one team, they have to do it for everyone. This doesn't make it impossible [to move a team into another club's neighborhood]. It just makes it really expensive." As for what the D.C. team will be called, a third incarnation of the Washington Senators looks unlikely, both since the mayor hates it and since the Texas Rangers took the rights to the name with them when they skipped town in 1972. A petition is being circulated to call the team the Washington Grays, after the Homestead Grays, an old Negro League team that played some home games in the District; Mayor Williams supports this name as well. The Toronto Star, however, says that "the team will likely keep the name Expos until new owners take over." The Washington Expos? What's next, the Utah Jazz? And finally, to answer the question that I'm sure all of you are really wondering: Youppi lives! I feel bad for Oriole fans at this point. Baseball has given them an incentive to royally suck, and Angelos can reap massive profits from the deal. Disgraceful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 From the same site..... Details are starting to seep out about MLB's compensation package for Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, and they're pretty incredible: 60% of revenues from a new regional sports network that would air both O's and 'Spos games, a guarantee that Angelos' revenues would never fall below their pre-Expos average, and a guaranteed sale price of more than $350 million - with MLB to cut checks to make up for any shortfalls. If true, this is highway robbery by Angelos: Orioles revenues were already in freefall from their mid-'90s heyday, so a pre-Expos average might well be more than they're earning currently; and the guaranteed sale price would not only represent a $200 million profit on what Angelos paid for the team in 1993, but well more than the $296 million the O's are currently worth, according to Forbes. As I (and Derek Zumsteg) have previously noted, this will create a huge incentive for Angelos to give up on the daunting task of catching the Yankees and Red Sox, gut the Orioles roster and fill it with low-paid minor-leaguers, then sit back and cash the MLB compensation checks, all while blaming the presence of the new Washington club for his team's plight. For guy who didn't even have official territorial rights to D.C., Angelos looks to have used Bud Selig's fear of confrontation - and of lawsuits - to get away with murder. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 One little number I'd like to point out. 2002 Attendance Montreal: 812,045 Florida: 813,118 One little problem with that stat -- you need to convert the Canadian fans into U.S. fans. Once that's done you get the following figures... 2002 Attendance Montreal: 526,391 Florida: 813,118 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 Now that our dollar is actually worth something again, can we get a moratorium on the Canadian money jokes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 Now that our dollar is actually worth something again, can we get a moratorium on the Canadian money jokes? Your opinion is only worth half as much, since you're Canadian. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dogbert 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 Actually, it's 78% as much now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted October 2, 2004 From the same site..... Details are starting to seep out about MLB's compensation package for Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, and they're pretty incredible: 60% of revenues from a new regional sports network that would air both O's and 'Spos games, a guarantee that Angelos' revenues would never fall below their pre-Expos average, and a guaranteed sale price of more than $350 million - with MLB to cut checks to make up for any shortfalls. If true, this is highway robbery by Angelos: Orioles revenues were already in freefall from their mid-'90s heyday, so a pre-Expos average might well be more than they're earning currently; and the guaranteed sale price would not only represent a $200 million profit on what Angelos paid for the team in 1993, but well more than the $296 million the O's are currently worth, according to Forbes. As I (and Derek Zumsteg) have previously noted, this will create a huge incentive for Angelos to give up on the daunting task of catching the Yankees and Red Sox, gut the Orioles roster and fill it with low-paid minor-leaguers, then sit back and cash the MLB compensation checks, all while blaming the presence of the new Washington club for his team's plight. For guy who didn't even have official territorial rights to D.C., Angelos looks to have used Bud Selig's fear of confrontation - and of lawsuits - to get away with murder. I, daily, hope and pray that MLB folds because of stupid shit like this. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 GREAT! WONDERFUL! Considering the odds of Washington ever wanting to spend a dime on a new stadium are between "ha" and "you kidding me?", the O's are going to now be a dead franchise with them just so Angelos can make money. So, Bud managed to kill two franchises and kill two markets in the process. Great job Bud, here's a cookie. Moron. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 From the same site..... Details are starting to seep out about MLB's compensation package for Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, and they're pretty incredible: 60% of revenues from a new regional sports network that would air both O's and 'Spos games, a guarantee that Angelos' revenues would never fall below their pre-Expos average, and a guaranteed sale price of more than $350 million - with MLB to cut checks to make up for any shortfalls. If true, this is highway robbery by Angelos: Orioles revenues were already in freefall from their mid-'90s heyday, so a pre-Expos average might well be more than they're earning currently; and the guaranteed sale price would not only represent a $200 million profit on what Angelos paid for the team in 1993, but well more than the $296 million the O's are currently worth, according to Forbes. As I (and Derek Zumsteg) have previously noted, this will create a huge incentive for Angelos to give up on the daunting task of catching the Yankees and Red Sox, gut the Orioles roster and fill it with low-paid minor-leaguers, then sit back and cash the MLB compensation checks, all while blaming the presence of the new Washington club for his team's plight. For guy who didn't even have official territorial rights to D.C., Angelos looks to have used Bud Selig's fear of confrontation - and of lawsuits - to get away with murder. I, daily, hope and pray that MLB folds because of stupid shit like this. -=Mike No, not all of MLB I could give fuck all if the O's and Exposenators collapse though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 Actually, it's 78% as much now. Fine, I'll edit my figures accordingly... Montreal: 650,494 Florda: 813,118 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted October 2, 2004 Isn't Florida already in a battle for a staduim? And Tampa Bay has an owner who won't spend more than 25 million. God, franchises in trouble all over the place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treble 0 Report post Posted October 3, 2004 Well, if the Expos moving to Washington means that the Orioles are going to suck, I guess at least 1 good thing came out of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anglesault Report post Posted October 3, 2004 (edited) Well, if the Expos moving to Washington means that the Orioles are going to suck, I guess at least 1 good thing came out of it. Yes, but that's cancelled out by our inability to address any gathering with "Well, there's more people here than there are at a Montreal Expos game" Edited October 3, 2004 by Anglesault Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
