Baseball set a revenue record in 2009

2009 saw the highest rate of men selling apples on street corners and people eating ketchup and sawdust for dinner since the the Great Depression -- maybe; that’s the sense I got from reading recession-porn all year, anyway -- but baseball didn’t feel the pinch one bit. Take it away Maury Brown:

The league reports that gross revenues were $6.6 billion for 2009, a record figure for the league. The figure is a 1.5 percent increase the $6.5 billion pulled in for 2008. The increase of revenues comes against the backdrop of MLB seeing a decline in attendance this past year. While still the fifth highest on record, MLB saw a total paid-attendance figure of 73,418,529 for 2009, a decrease of 6.58 percent from a total of 78,591,116 in 2008.

Baseball focused heavily on promotions and affordable ticket options in many ballparks, helping to keep in-ballpark revenues afloat during the chilly economy. The increase also can be attributed to centralized revenue streams through television, radio, MLB Advanced Media, and merchandise sales.

A key factor in the increase can also be laid at the feet of the Yankees and Mets. Both clubs opening new stadiums this past year, and charged premium prices for tickets.

My contribution to this included a seldom used MLB.tv account, a new Braves hat for me, a Cubs hat for my son, tickets to a couple of Reds games, probably around 100 games watched on TV, approximately 2,349,872 clicks on MLB.com for blog-fodder and in the neighborhood of 60 cents in loose changed dropped from my backpack while loading and unloading stuff at the Winter Meetings, which I’m sure Selig picked up later after everyone went down to the bar.

You’re welcome, Major League Baseball.