The Brewster

The conversation on the discord about team finances inspired me to do some analysis of the financial data available on statsplus. Have team finances been impacted by the recent transition to v25 or have they held consistent over the last ~half decade?


We'll start with an analysis of team regular season revenues. This is perhaps the single most important financial metric since it informs how much you can spend each season.

In 2059 we saw the lowest individual total team revenue since 2057 (both instances were San Antonio). In the time period I've analyzed, only six teams saw a team revenue below $100M and 2059 was the only year with two teams.

On the other end of the spectrum, Nashville's incredible run lead them to a regular season revenue figure considerably higher than we've seen in recent history. We can also see the average is consistent with prior seasons.


Season ticket revenue is probably the most important component of our revenue portfolio because it's the one most directly controlled by the GM. We set the season ticket price, we have at least partial control over team interest which drives ticket demand, and we don't have to share any of it. Total season ticket revenue was consistent with prior seasons. San Antonio was once again the lowest amount but not nearly as low as they went in 2057.


Team media revenue has gotten a lot of attention lately. It's about the same as it's been for years, although the bottom does seem to be trending downward.

Merch revenue across the league seems down in v25 but this is a minor component of our revenues.


Once again, Nashville is breaking the scale with the success they experienced in 2059. The rest of the league's gate revenue was more in-line with 2057.


Ron has correctly pointed out that team budget doesn't really do anything anymore, but I think it still serves a role when we perform our team financial planning. It's basically a fill-in for the revenue we should expect during the upcoming season, and I only really start to look at the new team revenue projections around the halfway point in the season.

We see by far the lowest team budget in recent history at $98M for Rockville. This is a team that had $129M in total regular season revenue in 2059 so this budget amount doesn't make much sense to me.

In year's past the average team budget was within ~$2M of the average prior year revenue. In 2060, we have budgets that are ~$3M lower than 2059's average regular season revenue. Despite 2059 league revenues that were consistent with past results, 2060 budgets are several million dollars lower than prior seasons.

This--in conjunction with the relatively recent need to budget for player development and an IFA class that has every team hiding money under its mattress--is leading many GMs to experience a financial strain not felt to this degree recently.

I had/have a spreadsheet that tracked this history from something like 2028 - 2045 or so...then I stopped. Should probably go back and refresh it.

A few things to note: while there's a little noise, the league's average revenue is generally fixed. You can see that in these numbers. That might tell you something about how the financial engine might work...if you think about it a little.

Nashville does break the bank. They went out and built a very big stadium (which is a valuable thing to do). They have a long record of winning, the biggest fan interest in the league, and they live in an ASTRONOMICAL market. They also charge ticket prices that are on the high side, and fill their house.

Maybe Rockville’s budget is so low because they have a funky ticket price carrying over from last season and it’s screwing with the 2060 revenue projections?

Dunno

BaseClogger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 6:22 pm

Maybe Rockville’s budget is so low because they have a funky ticket price carrying over from last season and it’s screwing with the 2060 revenue projections?

Can you explain what you mean by "funky ticket price?" I am probably one of the biggest financial idiots in the game (as well as in real life). Is there a conventional ticket price I should be setting? Thanks.

JimSlade wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 10:59 pm

BaseClogger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 6:22 pm

Maybe Rockville’s budget is so low because they have a funky ticket price carrying over from last season and it’s screwing with the 2060 revenue projections?

Can you explain what you mean by "funky ticket price?" I am probably one of the biggest financial idiots in the game (as well as in real life). Is there a conventional ticket price I should be setting? Thanks.

I just meant you lowered it to $1 in the last week of the 2059 season or something. Normal range is like $10-$20 in the BBA.

BaseClogger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 11:24 pm

I just meant you lowered it to $1 in the last week of the 2059 season or something. Normal range is like $10-$20 in the BBA.

I did?!?! Wow, that was a mistake on my part. How could I have even done that midseason? I thought ticket prices stayed locked in once the season got underway. I had the price set at $20. Weird. Thanks for pointing that out.

JimSlade wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23, 2024 12:04 am

BaseClogger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 11:24 pm

I just meant you lowered it to $1 in the last week of the 2059 season or something. Normal range is like $10-$20 in the BBA.

I did?!?! Wow, that was a mistake on my part. How could I have even done that midseason? I thought ticket prices stayed locked in once the season got underway. I had the price set at $20. Weird. Thanks for pointing that out.

The lock for season tickets but open back up for Opening Day. They aren't yet when we make the last export. That's why you'll see people ping Recte to change their price. Same thing for the playoffs.

I'd fix your ticket price ASAP if it's at $1 or ping Recte. I never remember when they lock.

Do you have the same info for ticket prices?

My ticket prices for 2059 do not show as $1. They're not $1 now. Can we even see each other's ticket prices in the game or S+? I've never seen a page for that when I'm poking around.

Interesting info, seems like v25 is not as much of a factor in the dollars and cents of the league. We all just need to win more, lol.

JimSlade wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23, 2024 12:04 am

BaseClogger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 11:24 pm

I just meant you lowered it to $1 in the last week of the 2059 season or something. Normal range is like $10-$20 in the BBA.

I did?!?! Wow, that was a mistake on my part. How could I have even done that midseason? I thought ticket prices stayed locked in once the season got underway. I had the price set at $20. Weird. Thanks for pointing that out.

No I was speculating. Clearly that isn’t the cause. So I don’t know what it is.

I figured my budget got cut because I sat on a lot of money I had available to spend and because my team is middling.

JimSlade wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23, 2024 12:04 am

BaseClogger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 11:24 pm

I just meant you lowered it to $1 in the last week of the 2059 season or something. Normal range is like $10-$20 in the BBA.

I did?!?! Wow, that was a mistake on my part. How could I have even done that midseason? I thought ticket prices stayed locked in once the season got underway. I had the price set at $20. Weird. Thanks for pointing that out.

you can also ask your Asst GM to set ticket prices for you, and they might change them during the season, or you can change them during the season if you don't have this setting

please don't ask your Assistant GM to do ANYTHING

recte44 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23, 2024 10:00 am

please don't ask your Assistant GM to do ANYTHING

Lmao

There's a lot of adjusting that needs to happen- timing is crucial on it. Please just hang in there. It'll be back to more of what we all consider "normal" in the next season plus.

recte44 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 08, 2024 12:04 pm

There's a lot of adjusting that needs to happen- timing is crucial on it. Please just hang in there. It'll be back to more of what we all consider "normal" in the next season plus.

I've pretty much given up on offline play because BBA takes all my time I want to spend on baseball. But I can totally co sign this from when i had leagues with long history and ensuing all the settings right. And it's easy to ruin a league by getting the timing wrong. Matt is amazing at ensuring that doesn't happen.

I actually got a little lax over the last decade or so (Edit: When Ron was out of the league I let finances get away from us a little bit and band-aided them instead of actually fixing the root causes).