Major League Baseball
Between the seams: Yankees not only ones benefiting from trade

By Michael O'Keeffe
New York Daily News

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NEW YORK — Who needs bats, bobbleheads and Beanie Babies when you've got Alex Rodriguez?

The trade that brought baseball's best player to its premier team adds untold riches to a franchise already valued at $849 million by Forbes magazine. The Yankees suddenly have a whole new way to sell tickets, jack up TV ratings, win new fans from Caracas to the New York area and dip into new revenue streams.

Of course, everybody knew the Yankees scored big when they traded Alfonso Soriano for Rodriguez. But the A-Rod deal is also good for Major League Baseball and its 29 other teams ... it's good for TV networks ... it's good for the people who sell Yankees jerseys and hats ... it's good for Bronx sports bars ... it's even good for the guys selling bootleg T-shirts under the Yankee Stadium subway tracks.

Sure, fans from Seattle to Boston will continue to whine that George Steinbrenner dug into his deep pockets to buy yet another World Series title. And, as usual, they'll be wrong — Steinbrenner actually put relatively little into a deal that will pay huge dividends for the Yankees and everybody else for years to come. Short-term, the deal is already a grand slam: Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost said the Rodriguez trade could help the team draw 3.8 million fans this year, shattering the 3.4 million season-attendance record set in 2003. The attendance boost, Hallstrom estimates, would earn the Yankees $18 million more in revenue this season.

But that's not all. Sports business experts have said A-Rod's popularity and success will generate the financial resources and political support the Yankees will need for a new stadium and bolster Steinbrenner's three-year-old Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network.

David Hallstrom, a Chicago-based economic development expert, said the Yankees' 3.8 million attendance estimate actually is conservative — it's possible the Yankees could draw 4 million, a mark notched just twice in baseball history, once by the Colorado Rockies and once by the Toronto Blue Jays. The 4 million mark would put an additional $23 million in the Yankees' coffers.

"Remember, the weather was horrible on the East Coast in April and May last year," Hallstrom said. "Four million is not unrealistic if the weather cooperates. That's money the Yankees can use in July to go out and get a pitcher or fill whatever their needs will be for the postseason."

As for lining his own pockets, A-Rod isn't going to cannonball into the endorsement pool — his agent, Scott Boras, said he's in discussions with several companies but that baseball and charity work are the priorities this season. Endorsements will take a backseat until the end of the season. But when the time comes to negotiate, Rodriguez will give Yankees sponsors first preference. It's a good idea — the Yankees give Rodriguez a credibility the Mariners and Texas Rangers never could.

"The New York Yankees' brand is much more valuable than any individual player," said branding expert Robert Kahn. "It's the No. 1 brand in the sports world in terms of heritage, tradition and sustainability."
 
What makes the Yankees' acquisition of A-Rod so outrageous is its price tag: Since the Yankees are no longer liable for their contracts with Soriano, the released Aaron Boone and NFL-bound Drew Henson — and because the Rangers are picking up a third of A-Rod's remaining contract — the Yankees' new third baseman will cost only an additional $2.5 million a year.

That's a small price for a dominant talent with Hall of Fame charisma who can open doors in new neighborhoods. Latin Americans are the nation's fastest growing ethnic group, but they are still a minority at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have taken steps to make Hispanic fans feel welcome, but sports marketing consultant Julio Pabon said the team "still seems blind to the economic potential the Latin community represents."

Greater appeal means greater demand, of course, for cash cows such as tickets, concessions, luxury suites and stadium signage. It justifies price increases for tickets at Yankee Stadium and creates the need for a bigger ballpark with more luxury suites and other big-dollar amenities. Rodriguez will make all that easier to get if he helps the Yankees win. "Whatever they want from the public, it makes it easier to get when there's a positive feeling about the club," said Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based sports business expert.

Steinbrenner isn't the only team owner who is going to make a buck off the A-Rod trade. The 4 million attendance mark would generate $60 million for baseball's revenue-sharing pool, $12 million more than last season — or almost double the amount the Milwaukee Brewers will spend on player salaries this season.

The trade also gives MLB leverage in negotiations with its TV partners. Fox has lost millions on the record six-year, $2.5 billion contract it signed in 2000. Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive vice president for business, blamed the sagging economy and said Rodriguez will improve baseball's bargaining position by generating higher game-of-the-week and postseason ratings. (The trade is also expected to strengthen MLB's hand when the six-year, $800 million deal with ESPN expires in 2007.)

Any business with any Yankees hook will benefit from the increased attention Rodriguez will bring to the Bronx this year. "It's definitely going to be good for business," said John Quirk, a bartender at the Yankee Tavern, a bar in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.

Even the Boston Red Sox, losers in this year's A-Rod lottery, say the trade is going to pump up their business, increasing ticket sales and TV ratings as the rivalry intensifies.

"It adds fuel to an already hot fire," said Chuck Steedman, Boston's director of ticket services. "This rivalry is at its zenith. It's as hot as it has ever been in my lifetime."