pirates finish third in money making.
Posted: April 21st, 2007, 8:10 am
LOS ANGELES -- The Pirates have acknowledged making a profit in 2006, but they firmly rejected a Forbes magazine estimate that their operating income -- earnings before interest, debt and taxes -- was $25.3 million.
"The information reported in Forbes is simply inaccurate," principal owner Bob Nutting said yesterday.
Neither Nutting nor CEO Kevin McClatchy has divulged how much profit the team made while spending $43.4 million on player payroll last season -- third lowest in Major League Baseball -- but they have said it was not excessive.
"We are operating the Pirates responsibly from a solid business and baseball foundation in order to consistently compete on the field and maintain the long-term viability of the franchise," Nutting said.
The Forbes report, released yesterday, ranked the Pirates' 2006 operating income as MLB's third highest, behind the Florida Marlins' $43.3 million and the Los Angeles Dodgers' $27.5 million.
David Samson, president of the Marlins, described the Forbes numbers to The Associated Press as "pure fantasy," a view that is shared almost universally in baseball, mostly because the magazine is granted no access to teams' financial information. Major League Baseball strongly discourages all teams from opening their books.
The Pirates say they never were contacted by Forbes.
Elizabeth Wasden, a spokeswoman for the magazine, told AP yesterday, "Forbes compiles its annual valuations of Major League Baseball franchises based on information obtained from team executives, sports bankers, public documents and other sources believed to be reliable. We stand by our figures and the content published."
"The information reported in Forbes is simply inaccurate," principal owner Bob Nutting said yesterday.
Neither Nutting nor CEO Kevin McClatchy has divulged how much profit the team made while spending $43.4 million on player payroll last season -- third lowest in Major League Baseball -- but they have said it was not excessive.
"We are operating the Pirates responsibly from a solid business and baseball foundation in order to consistently compete on the field and maintain the long-term viability of the franchise," Nutting said.
The Forbes report, released yesterday, ranked the Pirates' 2006 operating income as MLB's third highest, behind the Florida Marlins' $43.3 million and the Los Angeles Dodgers' $27.5 million.
David Samson, president of the Marlins, described the Forbes numbers to The Associated Press as "pure fantasy," a view that is shared almost universally in baseball, mostly because the magazine is granted no access to teams' financial information. Major League Baseball strongly discourages all teams from opening their books.
The Pirates say they never were contacted by Forbes.
Elizabeth Wasden, a spokeswoman for the magazine, told AP yesterday, "Forbes compiles its annual valuations of Major League Baseball franchises based on information obtained from team executives, sports bankers, public documents and other sources believed to be reliable. We stand by our figures and the content published."