Dollars & Sense: A Round-Up Of Baseball Business News

Some weeks, there are major developments in the business of baseball — like a team signing a new local TV contract. Some weeks, there are little developments on the big developments. My posts tend to focus on the big developments, but that leaves you in the dark on the little developments, unless those little developments become big developments down the road.

This week has been full of little developments in stories I’ve written. Rather than wait until they blossom into big developments — if that ever happens — I’ll run them down here.

StubHub loses fight in California Legislature

On Tuesday,  I wrote about a bill pending in the California State Assembly that would prohibit ticket sellers from placing restrictions on ticket re-sales, like what the Los Angeles Angels have done this season. The Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media had a hearing on the bill Tuesday morning and were none too pleased with its provisions. The Committee gutted the bill, and left in only the provision to outlaw computerized ticket-buying software that brokers often use to scoop up tickets to high-demand events. The Committee is stacked with members from southern California, where the entertainment industry holds tremendous sway, so the bill’s demise isn’t surprising.

MLB’s lawsuit against Biogenesis proceeds

The court docket in MLB’s civil lawsuit against Biogenesis and others shows that four of defendants have been served with the complaint: Biogenesis, clinic partners Carlos Acevido and Ricardo Martinez, and Ashley Bosch, the younger brother of Anthony Bosch, the clinic’s director. There’s no indication that Anthony Bosch has been been served. MLB dismissed Paulo da Silveira after it became clear da Silveira was not the black-market chemist described in the complaint. The case now proceeds against Biogenesis, Biokem and five individual defendants.

As I wrote when news of the lawsuit first broke, MLB’s priority appears to be getting its hands on whatever Biogenesis documents still exist. According to the court docket, MLB’s attorneys have made formal requests to the defendants to preserve and produce documents. The league has also scheduled several depositions, although the witnesses to be questioned under oath haven’t been identified on the docket. If witnesses are deposed, look for news about leaked testimony.

Lawsuit over San Jose’s land sale to the A’s proceeds

In September, I wrote about a lawsuit seeking to stop the City of San Jose’s sale of land to the Oakland A’s for the purposes of building a new ballpark downtown. A group called Stand for San Jose initiated the lawsuit and claimed the city’s environmental and traffic studies were flawed and that city voters should have been asked to approve the land deal. Many think Stand for San Jose is just a prop for the San Francisco Giants to stop the A’s move to San Jose. The city and the A’s — who intervened in the action — tried to unmask Stand for San Jose to prove the Giants’ involvement, but the court denied the request. Most recently, the city and the A’s tried to disqualify the attorneys from the Pillsbury Winthrop law firm from representing Stand for San Jose. The court denied that motion, too. With these pre-trial skirmishes out of the way, the case soon may proceed to a court trial.

Marlins’ Second-Year Attendance Near Record Lows Through Nine Games

After Opening Night at Marlins Park this season, I wrote a post comparing the attendance that night to the Opening-Day attendance in the second year of all ballparks built since 2000. The Marlins recorded the lowest attendance on their second Opening Day in the new ballpark, although the Houston Astros were close.

But Opening Day often masks attendance problems because, well, it’s Opening Day. Now that we’re three-plus weeks into the season, the Marlins have had nine home games (or had nine home games, prior to Thursday night’s tilt against the Chicago Cubs). Miami is 5-16, a worse record than the Astros, a team that was predicted to lose more than 110 games this season. Giancarlo Stanton has no lineup protection and his hitting .200/.333/.255. The team has resorted to all sorts of promotions and giveaways just to get fans in the seats at Marlins Ballpark, even if that means the fans don’t pay a dime for their tickets.

And still, after nine games, the Marlins have the second-lowest second-year attendance for all ballparks opened since 2000. Only the Detroit Tigers sold fewer tickets through the first nine games during year No. 2 at Comerica Park. (And yes, the focus is on tickets sold, as that’s how attendance for MLB games is recorded).

Here are the numbers:

Team	Ballpark	Year Opened	Winning Percentage First Year	Second-Year Attendance Through 9 Games
Giants	AT&T Park	2000	.599 NL West Title	369,144
Tigers	Comerica Park	2000	.488	174,952
Astros	Minute Maid Park	2000	.444	284,172
Brewers	MillerPark	2001	.420	213,085
Pirates	PNCPark	2001	.383	203,365
Reds	Great American Ballpark	2003	.426	236,227
Phillies	Citizens Bank Park	2004	.531	268,704
Padres	Petco Park	2004	.537	334,700
Cardinals	Busch Stadium	2006	.516 NL Central Title	393,256
Nationals	Nationals Park	2008	.366	178,230
Yankees	Yankee Stadium	2009	.636 AL East Title	412,967
Mets	CitiField	2009	.432	281,987
Twins	Target Field	2010	.580 AL Central Title	279,135
Marlins	Marlins Park	2012	.426	176,278

And perhaps there will be more bad news for the Marlins: By the season’s end, the team could shatter the record for the lowest attendance in the second year of a ballpark since 2000.