BBA Revenue Nears $4B
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:21 pm
Now that all the dust has settled, and the San Antonio Outlaws have partially recovered from their post-Landis celebration hangovers, the league’s bean counters have released final tallies on their franchises’ financial status. Overall, the picture remains rosy—though some remain a bit concerned for the advanced levels of spending in certain circles (none of this concern comes after the Twin Cities River Monsters dropped a wad of cash on Chip Puckett, no-siree).
The final assessment says that the league created $3.95 billion in revenue, their second best season in history (behind the $3.97B created in the expansion season of 2040). On the whole, the league isn’t just cashing out, either, having actually spent $4.03B.
“Our league knows we need to provide value to our fans,” said a representative of the Commissioner’s office.
All total, the teams of the BBA lost, $81M, leading some ultra-conservative observers to claim the BBA might soon find themselves in ruin. At issue, however, are the large slush funds of “Bonus Cash” that most teams have stored away. “The league can run at a deficit for some time,” said Baseball For Your Buck columnist Gayle Combs. “So that’s not really a concern.
Owners Pour In More Cash, Cover Expenses
To back that idea up, it’s of note that fours owners actually added more to the mix this off season, led by Des Moines Hall of Fame owner Stephen Collins, Jr, who opened up the pocket books to throw an eye-opening $18M down to cover operational losses. “You have to spend money to make money,” he said. “But really, we just want to win here.”
Dallan Allred, El Paso’s suddenly flashy owner, dropped an extra $5M on the team, Mexico City’s Meat Poplowski coughed up $3M. Of some note in Sacramento was that Brian Dyer, Jr. also added funds, but his $64K was considered about as much as he makes while sneezing, so take that as you would.
That these owners are making investments suggests that the “woe is me” conversation around team ownership is likely a false narrative.
“Ten teams used operating funds to pay off future, debts, too—suggesting a strength that owners aren’t really fessing up to,” Combs wrote in yesterday’s column. These are mostly funds set aside when teams release players of other staff positions, though some have wondered if they aren’t mostly just money sinks for shady black-op projects run off the books. Not that any of that would ever happen.
Then There’s Good-old Profit-taking
Five teams, including Jacksonville and Louisville (who did not make the post-season) provided their owners with the opportunity to take profits—the most prevalent being O’Shea Jackson in Long Beach, who walked off with a cool $18.9M. Rockville and Seattle also turned eight-digit profits, though there is some question as to how much of those funds might go into those notorious bonus cash slush funds.
Of some interest might be that BBA champion San Antonio essentially broke even on the season, suggesting a robust, but careful spend plan. Also of some interest are the cases of teams like New Orleans, where notorious skin flint Gary Verlohi watched the ‘Dads suffer a $19M deficit, yet did nothing to improve things from the outside. “The Crawdads sink or swim on their own,” Verlohi has said in the past, and nothing seems to have changed since then.
“Overall, there’s a lot of good news here,” Combs finished. “While there are always some darker stories in the mix, it’s clear that several owners are supporting their teams, and using prudent accounting.
Here are the ledgers for each team:
The final assessment says that the league created $3.95 billion in revenue, their second best season in history (behind the $3.97B created in the expansion season of 2040). On the whole, the league isn’t just cashing out, either, having actually spent $4.03B.
“Our league knows we need to provide value to our fans,” said a representative of the Commissioner’s office.
All total, the teams of the BBA lost, $81M, leading some ultra-conservative observers to claim the BBA might soon find themselves in ruin. At issue, however, are the large slush funds of “Bonus Cash” that most teams have stored away. “The league can run at a deficit for some time,” said Baseball For Your Buck columnist Gayle Combs. “So that’s not really a concern.
Owners Pour In More Cash, Cover Expenses
To back that idea up, it’s of note that fours owners actually added more to the mix this off season, led by Des Moines Hall of Fame owner Stephen Collins, Jr, who opened up the pocket books to throw an eye-opening $18M down to cover operational losses. “You have to spend money to make money,” he said. “But really, we just want to win here.”
Dallan Allred, El Paso’s suddenly flashy owner, dropped an extra $5M on the team, Mexico City’s Meat Poplowski coughed up $3M. Of some note in Sacramento was that Brian Dyer, Jr. also added funds, but his $64K was considered about as much as he makes while sneezing, so take that as you would.
That these owners are making investments suggests that the “woe is me” conversation around team ownership is likely a false narrative.
“Ten teams used operating funds to pay off future, debts, too—suggesting a strength that owners aren’t really fessing up to,” Combs wrote in yesterday’s column. These are mostly funds set aside when teams release players of other staff positions, though some have wondered if they aren’t mostly just money sinks for shady black-op projects run off the books. Not that any of that would ever happen.
Then There’s Good-old Profit-taking
Five teams, including Jacksonville and Louisville (who did not make the post-season) provided their owners with the opportunity to take profits—the most prevalent being O’Shea Jackson in Long Beach, who walked off with a cool $18.9M. Rockville and Seattle also turned eight-digit profits, though there is some question as to how much of those funds might go into those notorious bonus cash slush funds.
Of some interest might be that BBA champion San Antonio essentially broke even on the season, suggesting a robust, but careful spend plan. Also of some interest are the cases of teams like New Orleans, where notorious skin flint Gary Verlohi watched the ‘Dads suffer a $19M deficit, yet did nothing to improve things from the outside. “The Crawdads sink or swim on their own,” Verlohi has said in the past, and nothing seems to have changed since then.
“Overall, there’s a lot of good news here,” Combs finished. “While there are always some darker stories in the mix, it’s clear that several owners are supporting their teams, and using prudent accounting.
Here are the ledgers for each team:
| Team | Revenue | Expenses | Profit | Future | Owner Prof | Owner Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic City Gamblers | $114,481,592 | $118,861,175 | ($4,379,583) | |||
| Boise Spuds | $110,108,029 | $126,606,131 | ($16,498,102) | |||
| Brooklyn Robins | $121,684,103 | $116,912,686 | $4,771,417 | $4,771,417 | ||
| Calgary Pioneers | $136,709,641 | $146,306,857 | ($9,597,216) | |||
| Charlotte Cougars | $116,841,551 | $128,055,096 | ($11,213,545) | $5,786,522 | ||
| Charm City Jimmies | $124,139,701 | $122,357,560 | $1,782,141 | $1,782,207 | ||
| Chicago Black Sox | $139,523,113 | $133,269,667 | $6,253,446 | $6,253,481 | ||
| Des Moines Kernels | $94,671,230 | $122,509,453 | ($27,838,223) | $18,186,331 | ||
| Edmonton Jackrabbits | $116,564,434 | $121,565,262 | ($5,000,828) | |||
| El Paso Chilis | $93,803,538 | $98,770,188 | ($4,966,650) | $5,066,609 | ||
| Hawaii Tropics | $119,680,833 | $125,057,667 | ($5,376,834) | |||
| Jacksonville Hurricanes | $114,266,345 | $111,802,694 | $2,463,651 | $1,257,408 | $1,206,338 | |
| Las Vegas Hustlers | $127,981,019 | $130,929,883 | ($2,948,864) | |||
| Long Beach Surfers | $163,753,335 | $131,898,761 | $31,854,574 | $920,370 | $18,934,226 | |
| Louisville Sluggers | $134,834,040 | $130,439,630 | $4,394,410 | $2,078,580 | $2,315,839 | |
| Madison Wolves | $106,807,712 | $123,175,514 | ($16,367,802) | |||
| Mexico City Aztecs | $113,298,211 | $120,988,782 | ($7,690,571) | $2,969,125 | ||
| Montreal Blazers | $126,681,972 | $110,737,494 | $15,944,478 | $15,944,478 | ||
| Nashville Bluebirds | $112,182,618 | $119,377,433 | ($7,194,815) | |||
| New Orleans Crawdads | $144,566,050 | $163,864,217 | ($19,298,167) | |||
| Omaha Cyclones | $137,125,871 | $132,177,811 | $4,948,060 | |||
| Phoenix Talons | $114,499,284 | $117,312,887 | ($2,813,603) | |||
| Portland Lumberjacks | $118,037,722 | $117,293,242 | $744,480 | $144,503 | ||
| Rockville Pikemen | $142,870,549 | $129,666,946 | $13,203,603 | $425,926 | $12,777,703 | |
| Sacramento Mad Popes | $130,431,403 | $145,515,732 | ($15,084,329) | $64,226 | ||
| San Antonio Outlaws | $143,145,999 | $143,669,385 | ($523,386) | |||
| San Fernando Bears | $123,396,370 | $137,166,813 | ($13,770,443) | |||
| Seattle Storm | $145,408,255 | $122,440,976 | $22,967,279 | $11,760,047 | ||
| Twin Cities River Monsters | $113,073,171 | $129,284,637 | ($16,211,466) | |||
| Valencia Stars | $96,648,130 | $94,625,932 | $2,022,198 | |||
| Vancouver Mounties | $104,317,457 | $100,612,919 | $3,704,538 | |||
| Yellow Springs Nine | $149,508,898 | $159,086,351 | ($9,577,453) | |||
| $3,951,042,176 | $4,032,339,781 | ($81,297,605) | $39,364,892 | $46,994,153 | $26,286,291 |