Thursday, February 05, 2004 |
Dollars, Dollars, Everywhere: Moreno, McCourt, and the Revenue-Sharing Paradox
Later this month, both teams will enter spring training with new owners. Arturo Moreno, a businessman of Mexican descent, bought the Angels from the Walt Disney Company last May for $182.5 million. Frank McCourt, a Boston real estate developer, bought the Dodgers for $430 million last week from the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.The article later goes on to observe that Arte's bankroll stems from the fact that he sold his billboard advertising business for $8 billion. The nature of men owning ballclubs has changed: they are now vastly richer than they used to be.They are not starting out even. Seven months before Moreno acquired the Angels, they won the World Series. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have not reached the postseason since 1996 and have not won a postseason game since they won the World Series in 1988.
Moreno starts ahead in another way. Because he already owned the Angels, he was able to function the way he wanted this winter. He shored up his mediocre lineup by signing right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, and he bolstered the pitching staff by signing Bartolo Colón and Kelvim Escobar, guaranteeing an overall expenditure of $140 million.
McCourt, whose acquisition of the Dodgers was delayed for three months while he got his financing in order, was unable to authorize expenditures that would have improved the National League's weakest offense. The Dodgers, however, did have the league's most effective pitching staff last season.
McCourt will quickly learn that fact of baseball economic life. Some people believe he is in over his head financially, but he has been trying to buy a team in recent years — the Boston Red Sox a few years ago — and now he has succeeded.The implication is obvious: it is entirely conceivable that the Dodgers could become a low-revenue team, very, very quickly.His ultimate success is another matter.
I've said it before: Arte's a smart guy. Though free agent spending happens frequently without thinking, it's also oftentimes an indicator that an owner thinks the team hitherto poorly managed. Jackie Autry always used to talk about the Angels being part of the Orange County market, which, because it had few or no broadcast outlets, could not sustain the team particularly well. This was either calculated nonsense designed to keep the Dodgers and baseball quiet, or ignorance of the first order. Arte's having none of that. The Angels have one of the worst TV contracts in the majors? Increase the number of games shown. The team has trouble getting people in the turnstiles? Reach out to your Spanish-speaking fan base through community events and better Spanish-language broadcast deals. As recently as two years ago, the Angels didn't even have a Spanish broadcast affiliate!
Arte's lucky: the Angels won a championship only two years ago. That's huge, but luck played too much of a role in that championship, as the team's descent to earth in 2003 proved. The team needs to be strong and contend this year to keep his audience's attention, and he hasn't been afraid to spend the offseason tall green to do it, either. (Whether he spent wisely remains to be seen, but that's a topic for another post.)
But.
This could be the Angels' moment. Go, Arte, go!
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