Engineering Economic Analysis

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Depreciation

Is Baseball Going Broke?

In 2001, major league baseball brought in record revenues totaling over $3.5 billion. Great
business, you say? Not according to Bud Selig, baseball's commissioner.
In December of that year, Selig went before Congress to plead poverty,
asserting that baseball had suffered a loss of over $200 million for the year.
Many journalists (and even more fans) weren't buying it. A few months later,
Forbes magazine published an article stating that baseball had in fact had an
operating profit (that is, earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation) of
$75 million for the year.
Selig angrily denounced theForbesarticle as "pure fiction." In response,
Forbessuggested that perhaps Selig was "afraid of being called before Congress
and explaining his figures in more detail."

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