Oakland Athletics Made Over $60 Million in 2023
The A's were a top-5 team in 2022.
Not on the field. The A's finished with a 60-102 record, second-worst only ahead of the Washington Nationals. On the spreadsheets though, they netted $62.2 million according to a report from Forbes. The only teams they finished behind were the revamped Seattle Mariners who made the playoffs for the first time in two decades, the San Francisco Giants, the Boston Red Sox, and the Baltimore Orioles who had a Mariners-esque upswing and an A's-esque payroll.
Oakland turned those profits despite one of the worst television deals in baseball. Only the Reds, Royals, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, and Padres have lower tv deals. The Giants, who are on the same network and in the same market as the A's, pull in nearly double for their tv rights. That's what winning World Series titles will do.
The A's viewership also ranked near the bottom. ranking just ahead of the Miami Marlins.
So how did the A's make so much money? The answer is pretty simple. They comprised a team of players that cost just $50M (per FanGraphs). Only the Pittsburgh Pirates came close to Oakland's payroll with an estimated $59M last season.
This news comes on the heels of the A's making a push towards trying to relocate to Las Vegas, which has included hiring eleven lobbyists to help persuade Vegas officials into handing them free money to sweeten the pot and to build a ballpark somewhere in Clark County.
These profits are also noteworthy given that the City of Oakland and the Athletics have the basic framework of a deal done, but are haggling over some of the financials. Oakland's Mayor, Sheng Thao, wants to provide a good deal for the residents, so that they aren't left to pay for billionaire John Fisher's ballpark and surrounding attractions. She is looking for a fair deal for both sides.
The City of Oakland is also currently running a $350 million deficit. Meanwhile, the A's are still pulling in money through revenue sharing and low payrolls, and turning that into a nice profit.
This report could serve as a bit of a bump in the road for the A's negotiations with both Las Vegas and Oakland.
Other than the ballpark saga, this is also a slap in the face to A's fans, who have been turned away from the club by A's ownership in recent seasons, and just underwent another patented sell-off, trading away fan favorites while promising the hope of better luck next time.
Would an infusion of money have helped the A's contend last season? Not necessarily. After trading away Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Chris Bassitt, and Sean Manaea, then Frankie Montas at the Trade Deadline, the A's were going to take a step back from their playoff hopes. But a couple of signings could have made the team more watchable, and kept the dwindling fanbase engaged.
That's where John Fisher seems to miss the point with how he operates. Sure, he is still making money running things the way he does (arguably into the ground), but he could make even more money if he spent more upfront initially--either on the roster, or to get a ballpark deal. The Giants are a pretty good example of how to succeed in this market these days.
If the A's don't have a binding agreement for a ballpark site by January of next year, they will be taken off of Major League Baseball's revenue sharing, which could lead to a downturn of Fisher's profits. Time is of the essence for a deal to get done, and if and when one does happen, it will also bring the hope of more money finally being spent on the team's payroll, and more attention paid to the fans.