MLB answered critics of its aging fanbase and media challenges with its strongest revenue year to date.
The league reportedly earned more than $10.8 billion in 2022, edging out its previous record of $10.7 billion in 2019.
- Last season began a new set of media rights deals with Fox, TBS, and ESPN that collectively pay $1.8 billion per year. The trio’s previous deals brought in $1.5 billion annually.
- New streaming deals with Apple and NBC’s Peacock added $115 million per season.
- Sponsorship deals brought in $1.2 billion, up 5.6% from the year before.
The league’s attendance of 64.6 million showed a 42.3% increase from the pandemic-affected 2021 but was the lowest figure since 1997, other than 2020 and 2021.
The 2022 season was delayed by a 99-day lockout as players and owners negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement.
Attendance slipped each year from 2012’s 74.9 million to 2019’s 68.5 million.
Patching Up
Teams will have an additional revenue stream in 2023 when the league begins allowing deals for sponsored uniform patches.
The league is also instituting changes intended to speed up the game and generate more excitement, including a pitch clock, restrictions on defensive shifts, and changes to encourage stolen base attempts.
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