Major League Baseball (MLB) continues to hit home runs on the revenue front. In 2017, MLB set a new total revenue record for the 15th consecutive year, surpassing the $10 billion mark for the first time, according to league sources. For comparison, at the end of the 2015 season, MLB revenue was nearly $9.5 billion.
Much of this growth can be attributed to the MLB's stellar playoff performance over the past few seasons, media rights - both traditional TV and digital, and the lack of labor disputes.
These key growth factors have had a positive impact this year.
First, the Alliance continues to benefit from the reorganization of the Alliance's various business units. Under Commissioner Rob Manfred's leadership, the league created what it calls the "One Baseball" standard, which will allow partners to promote digital media, sponsorships, television and other interactive businesses across platforms. . The standard
helped the league increase the number of sponsors at a double-digit rate in 2017.
Second, the Alliance's revenue growth continues to revolve around its digital media interests. The league spun off an affiliate called BAMTech from MLBAM in 2015. MLB sold its majority stake to Walt Disney Co. for $2.58 billion, while retaining a 15% minority stake. It is reported that MLBAM CEO Bob Bowman is likely to leave his post at the end of this year.
Meanwhile, television media rights continue to play a role in the league's revenue growth. Ratings for the 30 clubs on regional sports television remain strong, while national ratings also improved significantly in 2017.
However, although the MLB league's revenue has increased, attendance has declined. This year, total MLB attendance is only 73 million, the first decline since 2002.
In 1992, when Bud Selig took over as commissioner of MLB, league revenue was only $1.2 billion. Including inflation , the league's revenue has grown by nearly 325% in 25 years. It has grown 13% annually over the past two years to more than $500 million.
Extended reading: Americans don’t like to watch live games on TV anymore? The MLB World Series shows that this is not the case
Disclaimer: This article was compiled by Lazy Bear Sports from Forbes, and the original author is Maury Brown.
