Los Angeles Angels sign Albert Pujols
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Los Angeles Angels sign Albert Pujols
Kai Ryssdal: You’ve got the 1 percent. And the 0.1 percent. And the .01 percent.
And then you’ve got Albert Pujols. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim said today they’ve signed the All-Star first baseman away from the St. Louis Cardinals. The deal is reportedly worth more than $250 million over the next 10 years.
Baseball being a game of numbers, we thought we’d run our own. Marketplace’s Jennifer Collins does the math.
Jennifer Collins: Albert Pujols killed it in the World Series this year.
Announcer: That ball is absolutely murdered.
He hit three home runs in Game 3 and led the underdog St. Louis Cardinals to win the series. For the Southern California reaction, I turned to:
David Carter: David Carter, potential Angels season ticket holder.
He’s actually the executive director of the sports business institute at USC. Under the deal, Pujols’ yearly pay check could add up to more than 10 percent of the Angels’ annual revenue.
Carter: They would not have signed him if they did not believe revenue was going to be increasing going forward from a variety of sources.
Starting with sponsorships. Jim Andrews, of the sports marketing firm I.E.G., says with Pujols, the team could bring in:
Jim Andrews: I would ball park it, no pun intended at $4 million, $5 million additionally next season.
Pujols’ Dominican heritage will also pay off. Jon Greenberg is with Team Marketing Report.
Jon Greenberg: You know there’s a lot of money to be made as far as Latin American companies. He’s a dual threat. He can sell to anyone.
Pujols could also fill the Angels 6,000 empty seats. That’s another $8 million. Then there’s merchandise. Pujols, reportedly, accounted for nearly half the gear sold by the St. Louis Cardinals. And did I mention TV rights? They’re about $50 million a year down. But, in five years, they could triple if Pujols keeps up those home runs.
But Pujols will have to pace himself. This contract will carry him until he’s into his 40s.
I’m Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
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