The Subway Series


		World Series business notebook

By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com

For the next two weeks in New York, there will be no business like sports business. Fans will be madly trading in their "benjamins" to see their teams in action. We break down where can you buy, who's selling what for how much and how the baseball world has changed business-wise since the last Subway Series.

eBay on the prowl for the "Cyberscalper"
Simply page through World Series ticket postings on eBay and you'll notice that 90 percent of the listings have been taken down. Why? Because New York law stipulates that ticket sellers can only make a 10 percent mark-up when selling. Because eBay doesn't know where the seller really is, they recently made a rule that the seller will be subject to the law in which the event takes place.

That means that if you live in California and sell a World Series bleacher seat to your neighbor for $1,000 on eBay, your item will be taken down because it will be subject to the scalping laws in New York. "We said, 'You know we may not know where buyers and sellers are making the transaction, but we always know where the venue is,'" said Rob Chesnut, assistant general counsel for eBay. "So we decided to base our rule on the venue, which often is beyond what the law requires."

Harvey S. Jacobs, managing director for Jacobs & Associates, an Internet law firm, believes that eBay might be taking it a step too far. "It appears as though eBay has made a broad solution to a narrow problem," Jacobs said. "It's a difficult position to be in, but I would let the sellers sell (tickets) at their own risk and have the New York attorney general be responsible for shutting down bids or setting up sting operations themselves." Although eBay sends out a warning message to owners before they list, some people just aren't getting the message and Chesnut said many listings don't even make it to the site.

Sellers have been trying to get around the law by listing their sale as a Roger Clemens rookie card that comes with "free" World Series tickets. Others have offered a hat for $2,000, a pin for $2,500 and yes, even three Jose Vizcaino cards. But, according to Chesnut, those items have been taken off the database as well. "We feel that Jose Vizcaino cards are obviously not legitimate enough to package it with tickets," he said. "Our rule is that the only thing you can package with free tickets is airfare and hotel." Um, Rob, here's a loophole. How about a Honus Wagner card with World Series tickets?

I need two ... for $9,000?
Most brokers are selling bleacher seats, which have a face value of $50, for $500-$800 for Games 1 or 2. Main level reserve seats are selling from $1,500 to $1,800 a ducat. Field box seats (face value: $160) are selling for $4,000 to $5,000.

Disparity even in 1956
Only now do we have economic disparity in baseball, right? Think again, my friends. In 1956, the year of the last Subway Series, the teams with the four best records had the highest payrolls and the teams with the four worst records had the lowest payrolls:

Four Best Teams Payroll Record New York Yankees $492,000 97-57 Brooklyn Dodgers $472,000 93-61 Milwaukee Braves $437,000 92-62 Cleveland Indians $444,520 88-66

Four Worst Teams Payroll Record Pittsburgh Pirates $248,000 66-88 Chicago Cubs $283,625 60-94 Washington Senators $215,250 59-95 Kansas City A's $253,030 52-102

Speaking of payrolls, what would the 1956 Yankees and Dodgers make today?
In 1956, 20 years before free agency, players ate dirt. Here are a few salaries from both 1956 World Series teams:

New York Yankees
Mickey Mantle, $33,000 (with inflation, approximately $202,100)
Yogi Berra, $50,000 (with inflation, approximately $305,405)
Phil Rizzuto, $30,000 (with inflation, approximately $184,500)
Gil McDougald, $22,000 (with inflation, approximately $135,058)

Brooklyn Dodgers
Roy Campanella, $42,000 (with inflation, approximately $256,020)
Gil Hodges, $35,000 (with inflation, approximately $213,800)
Sandy Koufax, $6,000 (with inflation, approximately $38,000)

According to Doug Pappas of the Society of American Baseball Research, Ted Williams had the highest salary in 1956 at $100,000 and Stan Musial followed him at $80,000.

Dessert to go with your dirt
The 1956 Yankees players received $8,714.76 for winning the World Series, while the Dodgers made $6,934.34. Nowadays, players' shares are determined by 60 percent of gate receipts from the Division Series and 60 percent of the first four games for the League Championship Series and the World Series. Last year Yankees players made $307,808 each, while the Braves took home $203,542.

'Scuze me, exactly what type of calculator were you using?
Last Thursday, New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi issued a news release that stated that, at maximum, the playoffs combined with a Subway Series could yield as much as $245.7 million for New York. Hevesi based that number on two long League Championship Series (which didn't happen for the Mets) and a 7-game Subway Series. Hevesi set the minimum impact on two short LCS and a 4-game Subway Series sweep at $152.5 million. The report also stated that a World Series game at Yankee Stadium would be worth $13.1 million per game and a game a Shea would be worth $12 million per game in indirect and direct economic spending.

Don't take too much stock in those numbers, however, as the economic benefits are exploited by not accounting for displaced spending. In other words, instead of going to a show on Saturday night, people are going to Yankee Stadium. The report never subtracts the difference between going to Yankee Stadium and the show, it just counts the newly generated revenue. Hevesi also did not subtract the spending the city will be doing in cleanup, extra police force and without a doubt, the most expensive championship parade of all-time.

The New Shea will be announced this week. Bruce Berenyi told me so.
Mets fans are getting all excited about a possible announcement during the World Series concerning a new stadium, which might be built right next to Shea. Note to fan: Don't expect it.

Although Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon is talking about the renewed talks sparked by the team's success and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is a big booster, it will take at least a couple months for the state to take a look at the proposal. Then factor in that Giulani is on his way out.

Right now, if a new stadium were built, the cost of the stadium alone on that property would likely cost anywhere from $530 million to $550 million, as the $500 million number is already two years old. And if there is anything that the Safeco debacle has taught us, it is that with cost overruns, there is nothing worse than an old estimate. If the Mets can get the state and the city to take one-third each of the cost, their tab would be as cheap as $176 million. But that's right now. Every six months, feel free to tack on another $7-$15 million. Oh, and as of last month, Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday was talking about renovating Shea.

What exactly are you processing?
This year, the Yankees slipped on a nonrefundable $3 processing fee for each playoff ticket and the Mets' charge doubled that at $6. Major League Baseball allows a team to charge up to $6 for the "inconvenience" of handling the tickets and hiring extra staff. For each ticket paid for, for each game, those charges are automatically added to the ticket.

So, a season-ticket holder who has two tickets for all of the Mets' eight possible games (two NLDS tickets, three NLCS tickets and three World Series Tickets) paid an automatic $96 that is nonrefundable. Great way to ensure a team postseason revenue -- even if they didn't make the playoffs. For example, if the Yankees didn't make it, they would still collect $3 from every ticket (at least from season ticket holders) for the maximum amount of games. That's over $350,000. Of course, that only pays off 1/34th of David Cone's $12 million salary.

The Mets are back ... and they're making more money
Much has changed since 1986, when the Mets won it all. Here, we compare players by position with what the 2000 Mets player makes and what the 1986 Mets player made, with the money that would be worth today. Yes, we realize that the Mets on the 1986 team were a younger breed.

Catcher: Mike Piazza, $12,071,429 vs. Gary Carter $2,160,714 (w/ inflation, approximately $3.3 million)
Pitcher: Al Leiter, $7,750,000 vs. Dwight Gooden, $1,320,000 (w/inflation, approximately $2.1 million)
Center field: Jay Payton, $215,000 vs. Lenny Dykstra, $92,500 (w/inflation, approximately $140,000)
Third base: Robin Ventura, $8 million vs. Ray Knight, $645,000 (w/inflation, approximately $983,500)

Anyone have the trademark to the words "Subway Series?"
Actually, "Subway Series" is trademarked by three companies as well as Major League Baseball, but no one has the exclusive rights to use the phrase.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com.