While Major League Baseball players and owners snarl at each other, one of the main sticking points is whether the teams are really profitable.
Buying the Brewers 16 years ago has worked out well for owner Mark Attanasio. He paid $223 million for the franchise and it is unofficially valued today at one-point-two billion dollars. For comparison, had he invested that much money in the stock market, it would be worth less than half that amount – a little over a half-billion dollars.
The Brewers are in the middle of the pack with $43 million in operating income and they are carrying less debt than 22 other teams.
The smallest major league market has become a good place to do business. Attanasio hasn’t been among the owners saying baseball isn’t profitable.
