Major League Baseball in the hunt for source of finance leaks
Major League Baseball is closing in on the leak of five teams' recent financial documents to various media outlets, making their results public. The Pittsburgh Pirates were first on the list as their financial statements were detailed Sunday by The Associated Press, and the statements of the Florida Marlins, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Seattle Mariners were revealed on Monday by Deadspin.com.
Aspects of the five team’s profits and losses were revealed in the financial reports and also included just how profitable some of baseball’s teams are and reveal the amount of revenue-sharing the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays receive from wealthier clubs.
Marlins team president David Samson, said in a conference call on Monday that the release of the documents “was a breach of fiduciary obligation and duty by the leaking party. It's a crime, and it will be followed up intensely by Major League Baseball and its member clubs."
The leaks might be traced to someone displeased with the structure of the higher-revenue clubs providing financial aid to those with lower revenue.
The New York Times on Monday reported that MLB has narrowed its search for the leaks, citing an anonymous baseball executive. Baseball officials declined to comment on the matter, according to the report.
Access to the teams’ audited financial statements is usually limited to the commissioner’s office. The leaking of team financial reports is a rarity in professional sports, but a reality for the MLB and the teams affected by the leak.
"It's a breach of confidential information," Tim Mead, the Angels' vice president of communications, said Monday, according to the Los Angeles Times. "We're going to let it run its course and the appropriate people are looking into it."
The public have always been kept on the dark regarding the finances behind the MLB. Various magazines such as Forbes, would try to give an estimate of each team’s profit at the end of the season, but it looks like someone has beat them to it and released real numbers.
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