Since the launch of The Biz of Baseball, I have filed thousands of articles, and hundreds of analysis pieces. I’ve always prided myself with rolling out quality material, with site interest by fans and media alike proof that I’ve been providing solid work.

And while there have been some good and some not so good, a published piece this past week can only be described as “bad.”

The article has since been pulled, but it looked at the Forbes revenue figures from their valuations released each year for Major League Baseball, and compared them to leaked MLB documents from Deadspin.

The problem was, I inadvertently used the year the figures were published in Forbes, as opposed to matching them to the year prior where the figures were reached. To add insult to injury, the revenue figures from Forbes are net of revenue sharing proceeds or payments, and net of revenues from the ballpark that go towards stadium debt service, and include revenue from non-baseball events at the stadium that go to the team owner, none of which I adjusted for.

In short, it was a gaffe of major proportions.

I have already reached out to Forbes and offered an apology (it should be noted that I am a contributor to SportsMoney), but this one deserved a note to the public, even if Forbes never requested as much.

Remember, accountability is accountability. You move on from mistakes with the lessons learned, but in the end, you have to admit when you publish bad analysis.

We now return you to baseball biz.

-- Maury

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, as well as a contributor to FanGraphs and Forbes SportsMoney. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

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Comments (2)

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written by Jay Roberts, September 09, 2010

It's ok Maury, you're still a superb reporter and analyst.

And what's that saying,

"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything."

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Thanks
written by Maury Brown, September 09, 2010

Thanks, Jay. If you want to be taken seriously in this new media world, you work toward perfection... I have no preconceived notions that I will ever be "perfect", so I try like heck to minimize bad content.

This one... No excuse. Should have been better. Saying as much keeps me in check, and given the new media platform, hopefully, shows that not everyone that publishes on the internet is a hack.

Thanks again,
Maury

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