Fiscal examination of the Pittsburgh Pirates based on “leaked” MLB financial documents with complete franchise study and analysis

2. • 18 straight losing seasons (1993-2010)
• Longest active playoff drought in all of
professional sports in North America
• Finished 57-105 in 2010, the worst record in MLB
• Average Attendance in 2010 was under 20,000
(27th in MLB)
• PNC Park Capacity is 38,362
• Consistently rank at the bottom of the majors in
team payroll
• Consistently turn a profit … ???

3. • The Pirates made $34.8 million in profit over the
past three years.
• In 2008, the Pirates spent $23.1 million on player
development.
• This spending on development was more than
both the Angels ($16.3M) & Mariners ($15.5M)
• This spending was on par with the Marlins
($29.9M) & Rays ($21.9M)
• The Pirates had a $51 million payroll in 2008, yet
finished last in the NL Central.
• Aided by a $39 million payout in revenue sharing,
the Pirates turned $14.4 million in profit.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_696195.html

4. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/33/baseball-valuations-11_Pittsburgh-Pirates_339965.html

5. Financial
Ratio
Current Month
7/31/2009
Year Ended
10/31/2008
Current Ratio $1.84 $2.47
Cash Ratio $0.40 $0.04
Total Debt Ratio $0.70 $0.65
Debt-Equity Ratio $2.33 $1.86
Note: The current liabilities for the
Current Month of 7/31/2009 is far
higher then that for the Year Ended
10/38/2008 because of a staggering
increase in unearned revenue.
Unearned revenues for the current
month were $16,986, while
unearned revenue for the previous
year was only $1,746.
Note: Cash and cash equivalents for the
current month are drastically higher then in
the previous year. This formula is an
indicator of the extent to which a company
can pay current liabilities without relying on
the sale of inventory and the receipt of
accounts receivables. The Pittsburgh Pirates
had to rely far more on the sale of inventory
and the receipt of accounts receivables in
the previous year ending 10/31/2008
compared to the current month 7/31/2009.

6. Financial Ratio 2007 2008
Times Interest
Earned
3.08 Times Covered 3.57 Times Covered
Asset Turnover
Ratio
$0.59 $0.62
Net Profit Margin
(in terms of Revenue Sharing)
$0.50 $0.37
In 2008, The Pirates generated 37 cents in profit for every dollar in revenue sharing
dollars. In 2007, They generated almost 50 cents in profit for every dollar they got
from revenue sharing.
In COMPARISON, the Pirates only generated 14,408,429/34,422,311= .41 cents per
gate receipts in 2007.
This just shows that in 2007, the Pirates were much more profitable off the
revenue sharing than they were from their own gate receipts!

7. Gate Receipts $32,129,368 $103,209,000 $20,985,000 $39,013,069 $66,324,000
MLB Revenue Sharing $39,046,312 ($14,747,000) $47,982,000 $35,345,277 ($16,174,000)
MLB Central Fund $20,306,730 $27,191,000 $31,298,000 $19,778,648 $28,132,000
Local Broadcasting $18,700,434 $42,967,000 $15,900,000 $13,444,475 $64,365,000
Concessions $8,283,870 $16,516,000 $2,268,000 $9,551,348 $11,240,000
Total Income $145,993,437 $237,869,000 $139,647,000 $160,961,576 $216,200,000
Player Salaries $51,040,233 $142,138,000 $29,739,000 $56,018,335 $119,408,000
Player Development $23,182,677 $16,339,000 $29,970,000 $21,900,693 $15,534,000
Total Expenditures $124,203,035 $226,615,000 $100,433,000 $146,759,370 $223,872,000
Profit (after taxes) $14,408,249 $7,088,000 $29,462,000 $4,016,163 ($4,533,000)

8. Pos.Player Salary
SPPaul Maholm $6,250,000
CChris Snyder $6,250,000
CRyan Doumit $5,200,000
1BLyle Overbay $5,000,000
SPKevin Correia $4,000,000
RFMatt Diaz $2,125,000
3BPedro Alvarez $2,050,000
SPRoss Ohlendorf $2,025,000
SSRonny Cedeño $1,850,000
CLJoel Hanrahan $1,400,000
RPJeff Karstens $1,100,000
RPJosé Veras $1,000,000
RPEvan Meek $461,500
RFGarrett Jones $455,500
CFAndrew McCutchen $452,500
Pos.Player Salary
SPScott Olsen $450,000
SPJames McDonald $443,000
LFJohn Bowker $441,500
SPCharlie Morton $441,000
2BNeil Walker $437,000
RPChris Resop $431,500
RPGarrett Olson $430,000
LFJosé Tábata $428,000
1BSteve Pearce $427,500
CJason Jaramillo $422,500
SPKevin Hart $417,000
RPJosé Ascanio $416,000
SPBrad Lincoln $414,500
RPMike Crotta $414,000
SSJosh Rodriguez $414,000
BOLD = Opening Day Starter RED = Disabled List

9. Pos.Player Salary Pos.Player Salary Pos.Player Salary Pos.Player Salary
SPPaul Maholm $6,250,000 LFMatt Holliday $16,317,774 1BPrince Fielder $15,500,000 3BAlex Rodriguez $32,000,000
CChris Snyder $6,250,000 1BAlbert Pujols $14,508,395 SPZack Greinke $13,500,000 SPCC Sabathia $24,285,714
CRyan Doumit $5,200,000 SPChris Carpenter $14,259,403 SPRandy Wolf $9,500,000 1BMark Teixeira $23,125,000
1BLyle Overbay $5,000,000 SPKyle Lohse $12,187,500 RFCorey Hart $6,833,333 SPA.J. Burnett $16,500,000
SPKevin Correia $4,000,000 RFLance Berkman $8,000,000 2BRickie Weeks $4,500,000 CLMariano Rivera $14,911,700
RFMatt Diaz $2,125,000 SPJake Westbrook $8,000,000 SSYuniesky Betancourt $4,300,000 SSDerek Jeter $14,729,364
3BPedro Alvarez $2,050,000 SPAdam Wainwright $6,687,500 LFRyan Braun $4,287,500 C/DHJorge Posada $13,100,000
SPRoss Ohlendorf $2,025,000 CYadier Molina $5,312,500 RPLaTroy Hawkins $4,250,000 2BRobinson Canó $10,000,000
SSRonny Cedeño $1,850,000 SSRyan Theriot $3,300,000 SPShaun Marcum $3,950,000 RPRafael Soriano $10,000,000
CLJoel Hanrahan $1,400,000 CLRyan Franklin $3,250,000 SPYovani Gallardo $3,500,000 RFNick Swisher $9,100,000
Total $36,150,000 Total $91,823,072 Total $70,120,833 Total $167,751,778
Average $3,615,000 Average $9,182,307 Average $7,012,083 Average $16,775,178

10. Gary Gillette, a former co-chair of the Society for
American Baseball Research's business of baseball
committee, said the Pirates likely are better served
by putting their profits into player development.
"The underlying issue is one of trust in the ownership
and management of the team," Gillette said. "Even if
they spend an extra $20 million this year, there's not
a player out there who they could get who would
make a difference. And given how they said they
want to build through the draft, it would almost
seem irresponsible to do that. But the average
fan doesn't want to hear that."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_696195.html

11. 2008 – 2nd overall selection – Vanderbilt University
Born in Santo Domingo, D.R. / Raised in Washington Heights
Originally drafted in 2005 by the Boston Red Sox in 14th round
Currently: Starting Third Baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates
In 2008, signed a 4-year contract for $8.15 million
Guaranteed $6M in signing bonuses payable over 2009 & 2010
2009 – 4th overall selection – Boston College
Born and Raised in Miami, Florida
Currently: Catcher for Pittsburgh AA-Affiliate Altoona Curve
Rated #46 Prospect for 2011 by Baseball America
In 2009, signed a deal with a signing bonus of $2.475 million
2010 – 2nd overall selection – The Woodlands High School (TX)
Born in Winter Haven, Florida / Raised in The Woodlands, Texas
Currently: Starting Pitcher in extended Spring Training
Rated #11 Prospect for 2011 by Baseball America
In 2010, signed a deal for $5 million with a $6.5M signing bonus
At age 19, received the 2nd highest signing bonus in draft history

16. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took 10 popularly expressed views about the Pirates and
challenged, through a series of interviews, their top three men -- owner Bob Nutting,
president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington -- to address whether those
are myth or reality: 1. The owner doesn’t care.
2. They pocket big profits.
3. Payroll will never rise.
4. Why must fans show up first?
5. All they need is welfare.
6. The players will leave.
7. The window is too short.
8. They won’t pay for talent.
9. They’ll never sign an impact player.
10.They’ll never win.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11091/1136179-63.stm

17. Based on these numbers, we can project that the Pirates are nowhere near
contending. With their basic philosophy of drafting talent and trading away for
more prospects, the team is looking at another five year stretch of approximately
65 wins and 97 losses, making fans in Pittsburgh uneasy into the future. Ironically,
the team has been consistent in their wins and losses plateau, but this alone has
to be worrisome to the fans in Pittsburgh.
YEAR W L PCT.
2006 67 95 .414
2007 68 94 .420
2008 67 95 .414
2009 62 99 .385
2010 57 105 .352