Latest news with #Attanasio
Forbes
01-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Brewers Owner Has No Interest In Becoming MLB Commissioner
Mark Attanasio has already followed in Bud Selig's footsteps once. He has no plans to do it again. The Milwaukee Brewers' owner was as surprised as anyone when Bob Nightengale of USA Today named Attanasio as a potential candidate to replace Rob Manfred as Commissioner of Major League Baseball when Manfred retires in four years. According to Nightengale, "several owners say that plan to push" for Attanasio to take the job but it's one Attanasio insists he's not interested in accepting. 'I got a number of people who sent me that tweet from Bob Nightengale, and I was tempted to call Bob and say, 'Well, who's telling you this?'' Attanasio said Monday before the Brewers opened the home portion of their 2025 schedule with an 11-1 loss to the Royals at American Family Field. 'Because I haven't had any conversations of the sort." Selig, of course, echoed similar sentiments during his six years as acting commissioner following the owners' decision to fire Fay Vincent in 1992. He finally accepted the job officially in 1998 and put the franchise he moved from Seattle to Milwaukee in 1970 into a trust controlled by his daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb, who then oversaw the sale to Attanasio following the 2004 season. During his two-decade tenure as owner, Attanasio has overseen an unprecedented level success while also establishing himself as one of the game's more influential owners So much so that he was interviewed for the job that eventually went to Manfred in 2015 but even then, Attanasio said he had no plans or interest in selling the team. "I showed up for the meeting and the first questioner said, 'why do you think you can do this job and not sell the team?," Attanasio recalled. "I said, 'Well, I didn't say that.' I said that I would not sell the team. 'Well, don't you think it's a conflict? I said, 'Yeah, I think it's probably a conflict. But you all asked me to come in.'' More than a decade later, Attanasio's attitude hasn't changed. Plans to eventually pass the franchise on to his sons Mike and Dan are already being put in place. "My family and I love owning the team," Attanasio said. "It's a generational asset for us. "I just love what I'm doing.' Despite a recent run of success that has seen the Brewers make the playoffs six times in seven seasons, not all fans feel the same. There has been growing discontent with Attanasio's apparent resistance to spend more on payroll in the hopes of pushing the team to the next level. After winning 93 games and a second consecutive NL Central Division crown in 2024, the Brewers were largely inactive during the offseason and took the field on Opening Day with a payroll of approximately $96 million that ranked 24th out of 30 MLB teams. There's no arguing that Milwaukee is limited in terms of market-size. Though details are not made public, the Brewers are believed to have one of the smallest local television deals in baseball making them more reliant on ticket sales, sponsorships and day-of-game revenues than most teams. Because of that, the team has invested greatly in player development -- successfully -- and has tried to supplement its collection of young, home-grown talent with depth pieces and under-the-radar signings. It's a method that has led to success and competitiveness but the lack of postseason success -- the Brewers haven't advanced past their first round since 2018 -- has led to some restlessness within the fan base. 'We manage our payrolls to our revenues,' Attanasio said. 'Some of the other teams in the league have benefited from, generally, a media differential. I am always hesitant to speak on it, because it sounds like I'm making excuses here, and I don't want to make excuses. "Even in the biggest of markets, when teams overspend to try to win, then they then generally have to take a step back. Our strategy is to not ever have to take a step back and for the way we're running things now we, we don't have to. 'Even the teams that are rebuilding, they went hard to win, and now they're, in most cases, rebuilding in a way that's intelligent – quite intelligent,' he said. 'I think that we would be better as a sport if every fan in every city felt that they could compete every year. But I can say in this city, we're going to compete every year.'
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'We're where I expected'
Norwich City sporting director Ben Knapper insists the Canaries have done well to put themselves in the Championship play-off picture with all the changes the club has undergone in the past 12 Canaries have won three promotions to the Premier League in the past 10 seasons but, each time, they were relegated at the end of the following Hoff Thorup's side are currently 10th, four points outside the top six with 12 games to play, having lost to Leeds United in the play-offs in Attanasio's Norfolk FB Holdings Group will formally take control of the club at the weekend when a share issue process giving them an 85% stake is completed."Where we are is probably about where I expected us to be right now," Knapper told BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage."With all the changes we've made, from all levels of the club, trying to integrate a new complex playing style, lots of young players, a big shift in age profile, that was always going to be something that takes time."Every time this club is in this division, we should be targeting to try and get into the play-offs at the very least, try to get promoted and that doesn't change."We know with the choices we've made, that comes with some challenges, but we're in this for the long term to build a project that's sustainable and the first steps we've made have been really positive. There's loads to come and hopefully it can be an exciting end to the season." No 'need' to sell this summer A year ago, Knapper said the club was "Premier League ready" in many then, however, Thorup has replaced David Wagner as head coach, the squad has been revamped, and Attanasio - owner of Major League Baseball team Milwaukee Brewers - has progressed his takeover from former owners Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn summer, forward Jonathan Rowe was among the prized assets transferred elsewhere, but although the Canaries are no longer in receipt of Premier League parachute money, Knapper said the new owners had made it clear there would be no "need" to sell this summer, whatever the divisional that does not mean offers will not be considered. "The new ownership does give us that luxury of being in a position where we have a little bit more autonomy in terms of decisions we can make or not make," he continued. "When it comes to players, we are where we are in terms of the bigger landscape, the pyramid, and it's all well and good thinking that you don't want to sell a player but if they've got a fantastic offer from a club higher up the food chain, you have to be reasonable and that's something you have to consider. "We treat every situation on its merits but it's definitely not us having to go into the summer where we're having to do something, which is a nice position to be in." Knapper, Thorup and executive director Zoe Webber will travel to Phoenix in the next international break to observe baseball club Brewers' spring training camp and see if there is anything they can adapt for Norwich's benefit."The owners in general, Mark and [director] Richard [Ressler] and the whole group, are brilliant for us," Knapper said."They're so engaged, so passionate about it and they've got such a wealth of experience - in sport but also more broadly, which is a great resource for me."I love speaking to them and picking their brains. Sometimes they just provide a different perspective but always with the freedom of letting us get on with it, which is a real nice blend for me as a sporting director." Youngsters hint at bright future for Norwich Knapper also insisted he was satisfied with the club's transfer dealings in the past two added: "I like a lot of what we've done. I think we've managed to do a good job in terms of our selling strategy, in trying to maximise value for the club, but also in so many of the acquisitions we've made, some really exciting young players."I look at someone like Oscar Schwartau and the way that he's integrated. For someone of his age to have played the minutes he has and to watch him expressing himself has been brilliant. "And Lucien Mahovo, to have plucked him from where we did [League Two side Notts County] for a really modest fee and to see the effect he's made in only nine months at the club is fantastic."United States international Josh Sargent has been hampered by injuries this season, but Knapper insisted the Canaries have had enough cover in attack."Ante (Crnac) is a nine, that's his core position - he can play in other positions as well, off the right, or even as a second striker but we feel good that we've got two really high-quality 'nine' options," Knapper said."From a squad composition perspective, we wouldn't want to be in a position where we're carrying three top expensive nines, it's not a smart use of resource and it's difficult to manage that situation as they're all going to want to play."Norwich are next in action on Saturday when they travel to Blackburn Rovers, but three of their five games in March are at home.
Fox News
20-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Brewers owner poses shocking question about what his job is
The goal for every MLB team is to win the World Series, right? Milwaukee Brewers general manager Mark Attanasio pondered the question about what his job is as an owner. "Is my job to win a World Series or is my job to provide a summer of entertainment and passion and a way for families to come together?" Attanasio said, via USA Today on Tuesday. "My goal, from an ownership standpoint is to always compete. … I don't like to talk about us as a small market. We've certainly not played like a small market. Since 2005, we have the fourth-most wins in the National League." While the team has been successful, the investment from ownership has not been strong. The Brewers have a projected payroll of $117 million as of Wednesday, which ranks 22nd in MLB behind the Colorado Rockies. Attanasio said that it would be easier for the Brewers to spend towards the top of the league if the revenue streams were more equal. "We don't have the financial ability to bring in superstars. We try to hold on to whatever we can." The Brewers were proactive in signing rookie Jackson Chourio to an eight-year, $82 million contract last spring. The deal offers Chourio long-term security if he doesn't pan out. For the Brewers, if Chourio turns into the star they think he will become, they have a top-flight player under long-term control at a price they can afford. Those are the types of deals the Brewers have to make to try and retain talent at a cheaper cost. Attanasio pointed to the other leagues as an example for what they have done with their media contracts as a way to level the spending across the league. "You see what the NFL has done with their media contract. You see what the NBA has done. It's all sitting right there. If we can do something like that, the pie is bigger for everybody, for owners, for players, for everybody," Attanasio said. "We just have to figure out how to do it, whatever the labor system is." Despite the Brewers not investing more into the team, due to savvy moves, they are in position to compete in the NL Central, as no team is a clear favorite. Brewers' general manager Matt Arnold said despite financial limitations, there are no excuses. "We recognize the challenges in the industry around the economics of the sport, but we're not going to make excuses about any of that. We have to do things a little bit differently here, and we embrace that." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Times
19-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The Brewers, led by owner Mark Attanasio, clamp down on spending and keep winning. But for how long?
PHOENIX – Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio keeps getting away with it. His front office is that shrewd, his managers that skilled, his players that devoted to succeeding as underdogs. Yet, as Attanasio continues to clamp down on spending, his team's margin for error keeps shrinking. And if this is the season his frugality finally costs the Brewers, he will deserve some, if not most, of the blame. Advertisement Attanasio's approach is not unreasonable, given his team's success. The Brewers' regular-season record in his 20 seasons as owner is the fourth best in the National League. The team has reached the playoffs in six of the last seven years. But since appearing in the 2018 NLCS, the Brewers have been eliminated five times without advancing. Such disappointment seemingly should be the impetus for a stronger push. Yet, during an offseason in which the Brewers lost shortstop Willy Adames to free agency and traded two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams, the most they spent on a free agent was $1 million. Left-hander Tyler Alexander commanded that sum, which is only $240,000 over the major-league minimum. Two other free agents, lefty reliever Grant Wolfram and righty Elvin Rodríguez signed for even less, and their deals are not fully guaranteed. Attanasio can be judged only so harshly. To his credit, he chooses to keep the Brewers competitive rather than rebuild. He also splurges on occasion — $215 million over nine years for outfielder Christian Yelich, $82 million over eight years for outfielder Jackson Chourio. The Brewers are not to be confused with low-revenue dregs such as the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins. They're more like the Tampa Bay Rays, repeatedly astonishing the industry with their ability to field contenders on limited funds. That's the big picture. Strictly looking at 2025, the Brewers' plan is curious at best. Attanasio, in a news conference Tuesday, said the team's payroll is approximately $5 million higher than it was at the start of last season. But at one point, according to multiple sources who were granted anonymity for their candor, he asked his front office to contemplate cost-cutting trades of right-hander Aaron Civale, who is earning $8 million, and reliever Joel Payamps, who is at $2.995 million. Advertisement The Brewers ultimately decided against such moves, but clearly Attanasio's intent is to build a playoff team as cheaply as possible. That, of course, is his prerogative, but as general manager Matt Arnold acknowledged, 'it puts a lot of pressure on our group to operate very efficiently.' The front office relishes the challenge, Arnold said. Here's guessing the front office also would relish the money to better address third base and add to the starting rotation and bullpen. The Brewers hosted all three of their playoff games against the New York Mets last season. Teams that reach the postseason generate additional revenue. Often they reinvest that money back into the club. Attanasio, however, said the Brewers' early elimination was more or less a financial wash. 'You really didn't make any money in the wild-card round,' he said. 'You make one or two million dollars, that's it, by the time you cover expenses.' Might it be that the Brewers believe there is less incentive to aim for a No. 3 seed or higher as a division champion when they can spend less, sneak in as a No. 6 seed and get hot like the Mets? 'You can argue there could be, but we have never had that discussion, ever,' Attanasio said. 'You've got to shoot to win the division.' Opening Day is still more than a month away. The Brewers still could add a free-agent starter such as left-hander José Quintana. But if you're Attanasio, and you watched your team win the NL Central by 10 games last season after losing manager Craig Counsell, trading staff ace Corbin Burnes and dealing with the prolonged absences of Yelich, Williams and right-hander Brandon Woodruff, you might be thinking, why bother? One reason: To honor the support of fans, who since 2007 have given the Brewers the ninth-highest average home attendance in the majors, according to STATS Perform. Advertisement Another: To reciprocate the faith of Wisconsin lawmakers, who, in Nov. 2023, approved about $500 million in public funding for renovations and maintenance of the team's home park in Milwaukee, American Family Field. As part of the deal, the team agreed to contribute $150 million and extend its lease through 2050. The Brewers play in the game's smallest TV market. Like a number of clubs, their long-term local television outlook is uncertain. But they also are a recipient in Major League Baseball's revenue-sharing program, and let's not forget the escalating value of their franchise, which has risen from $223 million when Attanasio bought the club in 2005 to $1.605 billion in March 2024, according to Forbes. Attanasio's rationale for the team's relative inactivity this offseason is the 'unprecedented amount' of young talent the Brewers are producing. The trade of Williams to the New York Yankees was a trademark Brewers move, enabling the team to land not only left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr., an All-Star in 2022, but also infielder Caleb Durbin, the Breakout Prospect of the Year in the Arizona Fall League. Attanasio also noted that after the Brewers parted with Williams' predecessor, Josh Hader, they ended up flipping one of the players they acquired, outfielder Esteury Ruiz, in a three-team deal that landed them catcher William Contreras, who has since made two All-Star teams. Williams and Adames, though, were not the Brewers' only departures this offseason. The team declined a $5.5 million player option on right-hander Colin Rea, who contributed 167 2/3 innings last season and later signed with Cubs for $5 million. They also declined to bring back lefty Wade Miley, who wanted to stay while completing his recovery from elbow surgery and agreed to a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. First base coach Quintin Berry, who oversaw the Brewers' vaunted running game, left to join Counsell's staff with the Cubs. Walker McKinven, the Brewers' highly regarded catching instructor, became the Chicago White Sox's bench coach. 'Those are big losses, there's no way around that,' Yelich said after listing each member of the group. 'That's part of what comes with playing here. You just know that's how it's going to be. We face different challenges every year, it seems like. We've (succeeded) time and time again. We've got to figure out how to do it one more time.' The Brewers being the Brewers, it's difficult to bet against them, especially in the game's weakest division, the NL Central. The sport's leading projection systems favor the Cubs, but the Brewers face an uphill battle seemingly every year. They're everyone's favorite underdogs, even as they keep losing parts of their fabric. Even as their owner raises the degree of difficulty to new extremes.
USA Today
18-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Why Brewers refuse to spend big despite decade of NL Central domination
PHOENIX — There he was, sitting alone in front of his locker Tuesday morning, without a single reporter surrounding him. He's pitcher Elvin Rodriguez, the Milwaukee Brewers' biggest free-agent signing of the winter. Check that, Rodriguez, 26, represents their only free agent signing. While there has been $3.2 billion spent in free agency this winter, the Brewers spent $900,000 on Rodriguez with a $1.35 million club option. And that has been the extent of the Brewers' player expenditures. Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings. That's small market life in Milwaukee, which has dominated the National League Central Division since 2017, winning four division titles and has reaching the playoffs in six of the past seven season, despite having a paltry payroll. Now, after winning the NL Central in back-to-back years, instead of going for jugular like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, the Brewers are standing pat. It's enough to drown yourself in beer and stuff your face with cheese curds. 'We really don't have a choice, right?" Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, their highest-paid player at $22 million, tells USA TODAY Sports. 'It's not up to us to decide who's on the roster or who's not, or if we're going to acquire anybody in the offseason. It's out of our control here. 'It's a challenge we seem to have to face every year. We lose pieces. Some years, we lose more than others. 'You'd like to have every chance and opportunity to compete. I think we still do. We just have to go out there and see how it plays out." The Brewers lost All-Star shortstop Willy Adames to the San Francisco Giants and traded All-Star closer Devin Williams to the New York Yankees, and are staying within the organization to replace them, using reliever Tyler McGill and youngsters Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang at shortstop 'We've got some good young players," Yelich said. 'We're always relying on young players, trying to find a way. So, we'll see. That's kind of how it always is. We'll see how it plays out." Brewers owner Mark Attanasio isn't about to apologize. Sure, they would have loved to keep Adames. They wish they had the resources to sign a marquee free-agent starter instead of relying on Yankees castoff Nestor Cortes or perhaps wait to see if veteran free agent Jose Quintana's price-tag drops. Attanasio hears the complaints. He isn't whining about the Dodgers and Mets. He isn't moaning about the payroll disparity throughout the game more than any other small-market owner. But he's also not spending. Attanasio insists they are struggling to break even, just like the Cubs claim they lost $20 million last year, and Angels owner Arte Moreno projects they'll lose $50 million this year. The Mets and Padres lost in excess of $100 million last year. Their only bump in revenue, Attanasio says, was the $2.5 million cash influx from their wild-card playoff round against the New York Mets. 'My goal, from an ownership standpoint," Attanasio said, 'is to always compete. … I don't like to talk about us as a small market. We've certainly not played like a small market. Since 2005, we have the fourth-most most wins in the National League." The Brewers and the Dodgers, in fact, are the only teams in the major leagues to win at least 86 games in a full season for the past seven seasons. The difference, of course, is that the Dodgers have won two World Series championships and four pennants in that stretch. The Brewers haven't been to the World Series since 1982, let alone win one. 'Is my job to win a World Series," Attanasio said, 'or is my job to provide a summer of entertainment and passion and a way for families to come together?" It would just be a whole lot easier to compete for the World Series, Attanasio says, if the revenue streams were a bit closer to the big boys. While the Brewers have drawn 2.5 million fans the past two years, ranking 9th in the National League, and drew 3 million fans three times since 2008, their TV revenue is about $35 million. The Dodgers, in comparison, are in the middle of a 25-year, $8.35 billion TV contract, averaging $330 million annually. 'I don't want to think small, but we've never been able to do what the big markets do in terms of free agency and payroll ... ,'' Attanasio says. 'We don't have the financial ability to bring in superstars. We try to hold on to whatever we can.'' Now, if the local TV revenue was ever equally shared, like the NFL, it may be a completely different story. The Kansas City Chiefs have been in the Super Bowl three consecutive years and have had epic matchups with the Buffalo Bills. The last small-market World Series matchup was in 1997 with Cleveland and the Florida Marlins. 'If there's a playoff game between the cities of Buffalo and Kansas City in the NFL, and it's hugely followed, isn't that good for the sport?" Attanasio asks. 'And why can't we figure out how to get closer to that?. … 'You see what the NFL has done with their media contract. You see what the NBA has done. It's all sitting right there. If we can do something like that, the pie is bigger for everybody, for owners, for players, for everybody. 'We just have to figure out how to do it, whatever the labor system is." Is it actually possible that one other teams would agree to share their local TV revenue? 'Sure, of course, anything's possible," Attanasio said. 'Probably better to ask those teams than me. But look, we're going to do whatever the system is, we're going to compete. For 20 years, we had the lowest media contract in baseball, and that didn't stop us. 'And you had continuing gaps in baseball symmetry, and that didn't stop us." They'll still find ways to lock up players, just as they did with Christian Yelich on his nine-year, $215 million contract in 2020, or rookie Jackson Chourio with his eight-year, $82 million deal last spring. 'I think one of the reasons for our success is that we set out on a way of operating that we have stuck to for 20 years," Attanasio said. 'And we have not wavered. We have executed and executed and executed. We've always tried to keep our players to the end. Sometimes we couldn't." And yet, the Brewers keep chugging along. 'We recognize the challenges in the industry around the economics of the sport," Brewers GM Matt Arnold said, 'but we're not going to make excuses about any of that. We have to do things a little bit differently here, and we embrace that." Really, they have no choice. Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. 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