The baseball season is still five days away, but Bloomberg Businessweek is already declaring the Cubs winners.
“CUBS WIN!” blankets the entire cover of the magazine’s April 3 issue, followed by the subhead “Well, not yet. But after a century of epic mismanagement a sports empire is in bloom.”
The issue features a story by Ira Boudway, which is online now, about how the Cubs “finally” have a winning business plan.
Boudway spoke to Theo Epstein, Crane Kenney, Carl Rice and Colin Faulkner, who explained how the Cubs are going to boost revenue.
Here’s more about the story:
While the Cubs have spent $292 Million on player acquisitions since the end of last season, they have raised ticket prices (about 2 percent) this year for the first time in four seasons. With increases in the gate receipts, sponsorships, and media deals, the team stands to add as much as $100 million in annual revenue, roughly closing the gap with the Red Sox. Crane Kenney told Businessweek Basically, my job is fill a wheelbarrow with money, take it to Theo’s office, and dump it. But on sponsorships, he’s learned the hard way. In 2010, Kenney thought the Cubs could get away with a giant Kraft macaroni noodle outside Wrigley. After broad derision, they moved it across the street and then got rid of it. That was one where I made the call at the end of the day, and I was wrong, says Kenney. So my threshold is: Is this a noodle?
Boudway’s story also includes this graphic, showing how the Cubs’ “deliberate” decline affected all aspects of the organization.
You can read Boudway’s story on the Cubs here.
