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Players and owners are in negotiations about
the financial split involved in a return to the field during the
coronavirus pandemic.
Ricketts told ESPN on Tuesday that teams will be operating at a
loss or breaking even at best.
"The scale of losses across the league is biblical," Ricketts
said. "The timing of the work stoppage, the inability to play
was right before the season started. We're looking at 30 teams
with zero revenue. To cover the losses, all teams have gone out
and borrowed. There's no other way to do it in the short run. In
the long run, we may be able to sell equity to cover some of our
losses but that's in the long run. Who would invest at the
moment?"
Ricketts supports a season in some form or fashion, but he told
ESPN that playing games without fans assures losing more money.
"Here's something I hope baseball fans understand," Ricketts
said. "Most baseball owners don't take money out of their team.
They raise all the revenue they can from tickets and media
rights, and they take out their expenses, and they give all the
money left to their GM to spend.
"The league itself does not make a lot of cash. I think there is
a perception that we hoard cash and we take money out and it's
all sitting in a pile we've collected over the years. Well, it
isn't. Because no one anticipated a pandemic. No one expects to
have to draw down on the reserves from the past. Every team has
to figure out a way to plug the hole."
Ricketts said the Cubs, who have launched their own TV network,
are aiming for 20 percent of their usual targeted revenue this
year.
"There are scenarios where not playing at all can be a better
financial option, but we're not looking at that," Ricketts said.
"We want to play. We want to get back on the field. ... I'm not
aware of any owners that don't want to play. We just want to get
back on the field in a way that doesn't make this season
financially worse for us."
--Field Level Media
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