According to Forbes, 2022 was a banner year for Major League Baseball. After two years of revenues being adversely impacted by the pandemic, the business of baseball rebounded out of the pandemic faster than a ball off the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Before any expenses, MLB saw revenues of between $10.8-$10.9 billion, a new record confirmed by the league. The increase surpasses the prior record set in 2019 of $10.7 billion.
The 2022 season saw the first year of national media rights renewals with FOX, TBS, and ESPN. The three deals account for $1.76 billion annually, a jump of nearly $250 million a season from the prior agreements. One of the biggest headlines for Major League Baseball this past year was its agreement with Apple and NBC for streaming, which comes to $115 million annually. This is a good step as other leagues around the country are looking to streaming services as a new source of revenue.
It was reported in October last year that league gross revenues would be shy of $11 billion, which looks to be true now that the numbers are finally in. According to a report by IEG, the league had gross sponsorship revenues of $1.19 billion in 2022, marking a 5.6% increase over 2021 when the league started playing the season with capacity-limited ballparks due to the effects of the pandemic.
The largest business sectors partnered with the league included beer, insurance, technology, automotive, telecom, apparel, betting/lottery/gaming, non-alcoholic beverages, mortgage and brokerage, and wine and spirits.
It was not a bad year for Major League Baseball, and let’s hope that the league will keep this in mind as they move forward to expand the reach of America’s pastime game: Baseball.
