How Fast Is MLB Bouncing Back From The Pandemic? One Club’s Financial Details Give Clues

For Q3 2020, the Braves showed revenues of $110 million with an operating loss of -$16 million. For Q3 2021 revenues jumped to $234 million with operating income of $30 million, an increase of 288% year-over-year.

Operating income is a measure of profit.

Not all of what the Braves own is derived exclusively from baseball-related revenue streams. When breaking down the financial figures the clubs posted baseball-related revenues of $222 million (+118% YOY) and $12 million in business-related revenues (+50% YOY) for Q3 of 2021.

Baseball-related revenues are comprised of both local and MLB’s national revenues which are centralized. Overall, baseball-related revenues are comprised of ballpark operations (ticket sales, concessions, corporate sales, retail, suites, premium seat fees, and postseason), local broadcast rights, and shared Major League Baseball revenue streams, including national broadcast rights and licensing.

The business development revenue for the Braves is derived from the Battery Atlanta mixed-use facilities and primarily includes rental income.

In total, adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) for the Atlanta Braves jumped a staggering 867% for Q3 2021. OIBDA is operating income before depreciation and amortization. It is a measure of financial performance used by companies to show profitability in their core business activities. OIBDA excludes the effects of capital spending on fixed assets, such as equipment, and the interest expense of carrying debt.

Perth Heat ‘heartbroken’ as Australian Baseball League cancels upcoming season

Perth Heat say they have been blindsided after the Australian Baseball League cancelled the 2021-22 season.

The ABL has announced the upcoming season, previously slated to begin in December, will not go ahead, blaming the ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19.

Perth Heat general manager Steve Nelkovski said the club was heartbroken by the news and as recently as last week, they were still expecting the season to do ahead.

“It’s a really tough pill to swallow. We were presented a couple of options late last week, in regards to an updated schedule and this week, the season has been cancelled,” he said.

“We were confident the season was going ahead a week ago. We had dinner with our players, we told them to be ready for December 10.“

Nelkovski said the decision would have ramifications on several aspects of the sport in both the short and long term.

“Financially, the impact is significant and will be significant for years to come. There’s been a huge investment back into the brand and organisation over the last three years to get us to this point,” he said.

MLB fined 140 players for mask violations in 2021. Every appeal was denied, irking some players

Major League Baseball this season issued about 240 fines to about 140 players for failure to properly wear a face mask, people with knowledge of the process said. Although players routinely appealed the fines to the commissioner’s office, none have been overturned in a hearing, irking some players and their agents. In some instances, players have argued that their mask was down because they were taking a drink of water, but MLB has not been swayed. (Some fines, though, have been rescinded prior to hearings.)

Players were to receive a warning for at least a first violation, while subsequent violations brought a fine of $1,000, then $2,500, then $5,000. The general ability to issue discipline was agreed to by both MLB and the Players Association. MLB and the MLBPA declined comment.

The appeals process is the same that’s employed for on-field violations of more routine sorts, such as intentionally throwing at an opposing player. If the fine is up to $1,000, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations, Michael Hill, handles the appeal. For fines above $1,000, MLB’s John McHale, a special assistant to the commissioner, hears the case. Ultimately, the league office has sole discretion as to whether to reduce a penalty.

“We’re talking about tens of thousands, maybe $100,000 that are at stake here for players,” a player agent said. “The appeal’s heard by the guy who issued the fine.”...

In June, MLB dropped face-mask requirements for players who have been vaccinated, leaving the fines for the unvaccinated players.

“It essentially amounts to a bit of a witch hunt for unvaccinated players,” said the agent, who said he is a proponent of players getting the vaccine.

MLB plans COVID-19 vaccine mandate for minor-league players in 2022

Major League Baseball is finalizing a policy that would require all minor-league players to be vaccinated before the 2022 season, Yahoo Sports has learned. It’ll be the latest in a series of vaccine mandates that MLB and teams have rolled out recently to cover more and more people within the baseball world.

The commissioner’s office requires all employees to be vaccinated and some teams, starting with the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, have done the same — mandating that all non-playing full-time employees get the vaccine or receive a medical or religious exemption. Several executives like Nationals VP Bob Boone resigned over the requirement, while other employees who refused were fired or quit.

As first reported by The Athletic, MLB required “managers, coaches, athletic trainers and other non-playing personnel” of playoff teams to get at least the first dose of the vaccine before Oct. 4 in order to gain access to restricted areas, like the field, during the postseason. Most recently, MLB informed teams that all players who plan to participate in the Arizona Fall League later this month. A source told azcentral that some rosters were adjusted to account for the mandate, the first of its kind to apply to players themselves.

Anti-vax baseball coach from Miami files religious discrimination complaint against MLB team

Two minor league baseball coaches with the Washington Nationals — one of them from Florida — have filed religious discrimination complaints after they say they were fired for refusing to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Larry Pardo, of Miami, and Brad Holman, of Wichita, Kansas, filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, alleging the baseball franchise violated “their rights to free expression and observation of their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The EEOC complaints were filed Friday by their Miami attorney, Alexander Fox. The complaints are expected to lay the groundwork for a federal lawsuit.

The coaches are but two of a growing number of Americans who are seeking to obtain religious exemptions from getting the vaccines, as more governments and companies have begun to mandate inoculations.

The Nationals last week terminated the contracts of Holman, 53, who was a minor-league pitching coordinator, and Pardo, 55, who coached in the Florida Complex League, a rookie-level league affiliated with major-league clubs. Both men joined the Nationals in 2018.

MLB denies telling Red Sox to stop COVID testing following Hunter Renfroe’s comments

As the Red Sox tried desperately to keep a COVID-19 outbreak contained as best they could over the last few weeks, the MLB handed down a mystifying recommendation, according to outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe, who appeared on WEEI’s Merloni and Fauria show Thursday following his heroic performance in Wednesday’s win over the Rays, said the league told the Red Sox to stop testing in the middle of their outbreak.

“The MLB basically told us to stop testing and just treat the symptoms,” Renfroe said. “And we’re like, ‘No, we’re going to figure out what’s going on and try to keep this thing under control.’”

The hosts called Renfroe’s attention back to his comments to confirm, which he did twice.

The MLB quickly denied Renfroe’s claims, telling The Boston Globe‘s Julian McWilliams on Thursday afternoon that the Red Sox outfielder “is completely wrong and inaccurate.”

Hunter Renfroe says he did not misspeak on @WEEI yesterday with @LouMerloni & @christianfauria

Renfroe: “I’m not taking back what I said. I can tell you that. What I said was true. I’m not going to lie about anything.”

(Credit: @byJulianMack) https://t.co/4HfmFymWc4

— Merloni & Fauria (@MerloniFauria) September 10, 2021

Al Leiter, John Smoltz won’t appear at MLB Network studios after refusing vaccine

Hall of Famer John Smoltz and former Met and Yankee Al Leiter will no longer appear in-studio for MLB Network after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, The Post has learned.

MLBN has made it mandatory for all employees to be vaccinated, with the mandate going into effect Sept. 1. MLBN executives, Smoltz and Leiter made a compromise to keep them on-the-air, but not in the Secaucus studios. They will both appear remotely for the shows.

Smoltz will also still call a Division Series game on site in October. The two are regular in-studio analysts for the network.

Sources: Houston Astros, Washington Nationals first MLB teams to mandate vaccine for nonplaying employees

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals have mandated that all nonplaying full-time employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the first two teams in Major League Baseball to make vaccination a condition of employment, sources told ESPN.

The Astros were the first team to require compulsory vaccination and did so with their major league team as well as the three minor league teams they own, according to a source familiar with their policy.

Earlier this month, the Nationals told employees they would need to show proof of vaccination or offer a medical or religious exemption from receiving the vaccine. The deadline to provide proof was Thursday.

Blue Jays to require proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test for fans, staff

With an eye in part to increasing capacity at Rogers Centre, the Jays are announcing Monday that proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result will be required fans hoping to attend the final 12 games of the season.

Looking to create a safer experience for spectators — while also urging the government to bump the current limit of fans at the dome from 15,000 — the new measures will come into effect for the final two homestands of the regular season.

The measures will also apply to team and stadium staff.

Fans aged 11 and under just need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian who adheres to the policy.

“I would hope that we’re able to increase capacity as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Anuk Karunaratne, the Jays vice-president of business operations, said in an interview with the Toronto Sun. “That’s going to ultimately get determined by public health boards provincially and municipally. My hope is that it would be sooner rather than later.