Do not fall for the line about most owners being poor or broke and the MLB Lockout being necessary for the league’s survival. The league has already indicated it is willing to miss all of April if the MLBPA doesn’t agree to its terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. Fitch Ratings recently released a report that shows owners can afford to miss a lot more baseball than that.
The report, which was issued last week, notes that owners would not be in financial dire straits even if the entire 2022 season were scrapped. They are literally sitting on billions of dollars.
Major League Baseball clubs can draw up to $2 billion from the A-rated MLB Club Trust Securitization and $1.25 billion from the MLB Facility Fund, which holds an A- rating. On top of that, the league holds $2.1 billion in debt from the two organizations.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo has been very critical of writers siding with players in the negotiations. He said that group “should be ashamed of themselves” and singled out Jeff Passan of ESPN for knowing very little about these negotiations.
Russo has been honest. He recognizes that as an MLB Network employee, many will think he is delivering a message the owners have approved. However, he noted that as long as the lockout drags on, he will not be doing or getting paid for High Heat on MLB Network.
It is easy to point fingers about who is telling whose story when all fans have to go on is media reports. A financial report this damning to the owners’ public position is much harder to refute.
Fitch Ratings does note that team owners could not weather a lockout forever. An extended absence could “alienate the fan base and erode game attendance and viewership,” the report says. That would make it a near certainty that revenue from future rights deals and ticket sales would plummet.
