C's financial numbers...

[Michael Zaino <mz3096@student.law.duke.edu>]

There has been a lot of talk about signing big name FA's (especially
Walker) on this list and the ability of the C's (or Gaston) to come up
with money. The one thing I haven't seen is that hardcore numbers so I
thought I might post some interesting numbers from the C's balance sheet
and statement of income.
First, according to the balance sheet, the C's have about $95 million
dollars in cash (or cash equivalents). This is an enormous amount of
money. I am not exactly sure why they are holding so much money, or for
how long they have been holding this money, or  if they plan to part
with this money but it is there. This alone would make you think that
the C's should have money to pay at least Antoine but there are more
considerations.
According to the statement of income, the C's had $31 million of revenue
from ticket sales and another $23 million of TV and radio money. Other
revenue is listed as $8 million. But I don't know where this comes from.
(It says "other, principally promotional adverstising") The total
revenue is just $62 million. That seems to indicate that maybe if we
give Antoine $17 million (what Garnett makes), then there won't be much
left over for the rest of the team.
For those of you looking to increase revenue there are two real ways.
One is to raise ticket prices and sell more tickets. This is already
underway. But the best way to make more money is simply to go to the
playoffs. In '95, they had two home playoff games (I think). That
resulted in close to $2 million of revenue. Considering that players are
paid very little for playoff games, much of that revenue becomes profit.
(Ever wonder why the Bulls can pay Jordan so much...)
The final thing to keep in mind is that C's are a public partnership.
This mandates that they report their finances and that they at least try
and turn a profit. (this is a legal issue that I can explain, but I will
spare you the boredom.) The point is, they are under different financial
and other constraints that other teams don't face.
I have done my best to keep this post short, but I encourage everybody
who is interested to get a copy of the annual report.