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 Based on financial information provided by Major League Baseball, gross revenues have grown from $1.4 billion in 1995 to $7 billion in 2010, or a 400% increase. When accounting for inflation, the league still sees phenomenal growth at a 254% increase.
Baseball has not seen a dip in revenues since 2002 when the league reported revenues of $3.6 billion, down from $3.7 billion the year prior. Since then, the league as seen steady growth with additional revenue streams (chiefly, the addition of MLB Advanced Media in 2000 that began to pay dividends in 2002), as well as robust increases in national, local and regional television deals.
Revenues, in a cold economy, saw growth of 1.5% from 2008 to 2009 but rebounded nicely in 2010 when revenues increased to $7 billion, up from $6.6 billion the year prior. That increase was tied to escalators in existing television agreements as well as extensions such as the case with the Texas Rangers.
SELECT READ MORE TO SEE DATA AND GRAPHS OUTLINING MLB’S REVENUES FROM 1995 TO 2010
| Year |
MLB Rev
(Billions) |
% (+/-)
Yr Prior |
| 1995 |
$1.4 |
|
| 1996 |
1.8 |
28.6% |
| 1997 |
2.1 |
16.7% |
| 1998 |
2.5 |
19.0% |
| 1999 |
2.8 |
12.0% |
| 2000 |
3.4 |
21.4% |
| 2001 |
3.7 |
8.8% |
| 2002 |
3.6 |
-2.7% |
| 2003 |
3.9 |
8.3% |
| 2004 |
4.5 |
15.4% |
| 2005 |
5 |
11.1% |
| 2006 |
5.6 |
12.0% |
| 2007 |
6.1 |
8.9% |
| 2008 |
6.5 |
6.6% |
| 2009 |
6.6 |
1.5% |
| 2010 |
7 |
6.1% |
Source: Major League Baseball
| Year |
MLB Rev (Adj)
(Billions) |
| 1995 |
$1.98 |
| 1996 |
2.48 |
| 1997 |
2.84 |
| 1998 |
3.33 |
| 1999 |
3.63 |
| 2000 |
4.26 |
| 2001 |
4.56 |
| 2002 |
4.34 |
| 2003 |
4.61 |
| 2004 |
5.15 |
| 2005 |
5.53 |
| 2006 |
6.05 |
| 2007 |
6.41 |
| 2008 |
6.58 |
| 2009 |
6.71 |
| 2010 |
7.00 |
Source: Major League Baseball
(Revenues adjusted for inflation by The Biz of Baseball)
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 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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