I have no doubt that soon-to-be-new-part Padres owner Jeff Moorad looks at the team as an investment. He’s been quoted as saying as much, if in a round-about way.
With regards to our Obsessive Peavywatch, that could cut both ways: shipping off Peavy is an easy way to save your investment $50+ million dollars.
But on the other hand, how do you get asses in the seats when you’re trotting out an un-nameable roster? Just something to ponder as you check out a recent article suggestion that the Padres might be a poor investment at this time.
Moores has shown a canny (and dubious) ability to jettison an investment before a calamity hits; for example, he dumped $650 million worth of Peregrine Systems stock, almost all he controlled, before the company collapsed in scandal. Padres attendance is already in decline, as is the team’s performance. Moores, who promised he would bring in good players if the City would give him a fat subsidy, has pared the payroll to bare bones as the team founders in the field. San Diego Reader.
A bit more, and a little bit about the Cubs after the jump.
Interesting that Moorad sees the Padres as such a good investment at the same time that Moores is eager to get out (stated reason is a divorce, but he could have bought out his soon-to-be-ex-wife’s portion). Although I guess that’s pretty much the case anytime you sell anything. So maybe it’s not interesting. Hey, both their names start with “Moor”! That’s interesting.
Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, has warned owners that the current economic crunch could be severe. The National Football League has experienced a 1 percent drop in attendance this year, even though many tickets had been purchased prior to the economic mayhem. The league has slashed this year’s playoff prices by 10 percent and dropped some Super Bowl tickets to $500 a seat from $800, according to Forbes.com. The league has trimmed employment, as have the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.
I wonder what the attendance drop will be like this season in MLB. My guess is that if the NFL has seen 1%, MLB might approach 2 or 3.
The article naturally included a quick snippet about the impending Cubs sale.
The [Tribune] company went bankrupt. Zell has not yet been able to sell the Chicago Cubs baseball team and its Wrigley Field.
Now that doesn’t seem like a fair characterization. It’s not as if Zell has been desperately trying to find a buyer and no one is interested. It’s just a process – a process that the bankruptcy doesn’t speed up.