Major League Baseball achieved financial success in 2022, propelling itself to a new record for … [+]
Major League Baseball has achieved financial success in 2022, propelling itself to a new revenue record.
After two years of revenue being negatively affected by the pandemic, the baseball business has rebounded from the pandemic faster than a ball off the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Before any expenses, MLB saw revenues between $10.8 and $10.9 billion, a new record confirmed by the league. The increase outweighs Previously recorded in 2019 amounted to $ 10.7 billion.
As of publication, net revenue — the most important metric for showing available revenue after expenses — has not been provided. The total revenue figure was provided by sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of financial information within MLB that is privately owned.
This number is significant because it shows MLB emerging from the pandemic faster than expected, and the work by the business arm of the league to grow existing and new revenue streams, all while doing so in a year in which the season was shortened by one month due to a 99-day shutdown by The owners as part of a labor dispute with the players over a new collective bargaining agreement.
After it rained out in Game 3 of the 2022 World Series, Commissioner Rob Manfred met with the media And as part of it he said That total revenue will be less than $11 billion. With the final figures, Manfred’s comments prove correct.
The league’s ability to increase revenue two years into the pandemic is due in part to the timing around national media rights that expire in 2021, opening the door for renewals from its three broadcast partners.
2022 season The first year marked the renewal of national media rights with FOX, TBS, and ESPN. All told, the three are worth $1.76 billion annually, nearly $250 million per season more than previous agreements.
While ESPN’s revenues were down $150 million annually with the new agreement, the league was able to fill the gap with new broadcast deals. On top of national TV media rights, MLB has signed deals with Apple
AAPL
While media rights remain MLB’s largest revenue segment, sponsorship agreements will play an important role in Major League Baseball’s financial health in 2022. According to a report by IEGThe league generated total sponsorship revenue of $1.19 billion in 2022, marking a 5.6% increase from 2021 when the league began playing the season with capacity-limited stadiums due to the effects of the pandemic. The largest business sectors partnered with the league included beer, insurance, technology, automotive, telecommunications, apparel, betting/lottery/gaming, non-alcoholic beverages, mortgage, brokerage, and wine and spirits.
The increase in total revenue is staggering because it comes at a time when game attendance continues to drop. While attendance jumped 42.3% compared to 2021 when the start of the season saw most ballparks no more than 20%, The 2022 regular season is down nearly 6% compared to 2019Last season, before the pandemic. Major League Baseball has seen attendance decline for nine consecutive seasons when 2020 is taken out of the mix. Since the last increase (+1.97% from 2011 to 2012) the league’s attendance has fallen by 14%.
While gross revenue is a measure of how much money is flowing into a league, for purposes of how it relates to MLB player salaries, it is an invalid metric. Expenses are not calculated.
While I was unable to obtain 2019-2022 data, financial information provided by MLB and confirmed by MLBPA for the 2006-2018 period, shows industry revenue before player salaries at MLB, Minor League, and amateur levels and the ratio of those salaries to industry revenue for a given year.