Lunt 1

Lunt 2

As Jim Bouton stated the reason baseball calls itself a game is because its too screwed
up to be a business. Baseball was created by Alexander Cartwright in 1845 and has since
become a huge part of the American culture. There are two leagues, the American and National
Leagues, each consisting of fifteen separate teams from different cities. The Cleveland Indians
are a team located in Cleveland, Ohio and many believe they are one of the most successful
baseball teams. The Cleveland Indians have been able to gain success through multitudes of
ways but mainly because they are a part of Major League Baseball, a huge part of the American
culture today.
Baseball has been around for over 150 years creating a huge empire that has now become
a huge part of American culture. Baseballs origin is unknown but many believe that Abner
Doubleday invented the national pastime. It is said that Doubleday was unaware he created this
national game, but fifteen years after his death he was anointed as the father of the game.
(WIKI). Others also believe that baseball was regularly played on Saturdays in 1823 in an area
known as Greenwich Village today in New York. In 1857, sixteen New York area clubs formed
the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), which was the first organization to
govern the sport and to establish a championship. During the Civil War, soldiers from different
parts of the United States played baseball together which lead to a more unified national version
of the sport. In 1869, the NABBP permitted profession play which addressed a growing practice
that had not been permitted under its rules to that point. However, in 1870, a split developed
between professional and amateur ballplayers causing the NABBP split into two groups. The
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players operated from 1871-1875 and is
considered to have been the first major league. The National league which was formed after the
National Association proved ineffective put its emphasis on the clubs rather than the players.
Through the National League clubs now had the ability to enforce players contracts, preventing

Lunt 3

players from moving to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play their full schedule of
games in order to reduce the amount of gambling on games which was leaving the validity of the
results in doubt. Many other clubs were being created, of which the most successful was the
American Association. This caused a huge war between the American and National Association
causing shock waves throughout the baseball world. This was later resolved by allowing the
National League and American Association champions to meet in a postseason championship
series, the first attempt at a World Series.
The Cleveland Indians is a team considered by many to be one of the most successful
teams. The Cleveland Indians originated in Cleveland, Ohio in 1886. Cleveland has since had
two World Championships, five pennants, and eleven playoff appearances. The Indians are
represented by Chief Wahoo with the official team mascot being a character named Slider. The
Indians play at Progressive Field, formerly known as Jacobs Field, and have been playing there
since 1994. The Indians are often referred to as the tribe or the wahoos with the second name
being in reference to their logo. Tom Hamilton has been a key part of the Indians for the past
twenty-five years. He is often referred to as the voice of the Indians and has the second-longest
tenure in history of twenty four years.
Major League Baseball has become an extremely well known and wealthy corporation
due to its successive ability to entertain and perform a game that has become a huge part of
American culture. Baseball has been a part of American culture for over 150 years, yet many
extremely intelligent individuals have been able to create the traditional game into an extremely
profitable business. Many baseball teams were able to find cities where the citizens were willing
to help and support a new team which greatly increased the success of each team. There are
thirty separate teams each located in different cities, which has allowed cities to feel as though
they are represented by their local baseball team. This has allowed many baseball owners to gain

Lunt 4

support increasing each teams financial status over all increasing Major League Baseball as an
economic power house.
Baseball began as a non-profit sport that many children played and has evolved into a
sport where teams make over $200 million a year. The Cleveland Indians are a major league
baseball team located in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland Indians began as a team in the early
1900s and has since become one of the most well-known and renowned teams. The Cleveland
Indians were able to take advantage of peoples desire to watch and play baseball which allowed
them to grow as a company. As baseball grew, many people began to associate baseball with the
American culture. The Cleveland Indians like many other teams began to gain economic growth
by using the American appeal in which they claimed that all Americans took part in watching
baseball. This began to quickly cause the attendance at each baseball game to increase and for
young boys to have a desire to play on a team in the major leagues. The Cleveland Indians took
advantage of this and without their ability to tie baseball into American culture; the business of
the Cleveland Indians would be significantly different.
The Cleveland Indians have grown significantly as a business since their start in the early
1900s. It is estimated the Cleveland Indians make approximately thirty-one million dollars on
gate entrance fees. Tom Hamilton, also known as the voice of the Indians, has drastically
increased the Cleveland Indians radio sales. As a result the team signed a $400 million contract
allowing Fox news to broadcast all Indians games for the next 10 years. The Cleveland Indians
has revenue of $196 million which is significantly higher than it used to be. Although they have
low player expenses of $101 million, their expenses are much higher than they used to be
showing positive trend. It is extremely impressive that only being the twenty-fifth highest paid
teams they are able to perform so well. The Cleveland Indians also have an operating income of
negative $1.9 million which shows that they are able to perform all required functions properly

Lunt 5

and successfully extremely under budget; this allows them to spend the additional money on
further increasing the success of the team.
Lawrence J. Dolan is the current owner of the Cleveland Indians and has been since he
purchased the team in 2000. Dolan attended St. Ignatius High School and received his LL.B.
degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1956. Dolan served in the United States Marine
Corps for two years where he attained the rank of First Lieutenant. After leaving the Marine
Corps, Dolan worked as Assistant Prosecutor in Geauga County, Ohio before going into private
practice. He eventually became president and managing partner of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan
in Chadron, Ohio. Dolan decided to purchase the Cleveland Indians in the spring of 2000 for
$323 million, the most ever paid for a baseball team at that time. Dolan has successfully
increased the profit of the Cleveland Indians making it worth more than $500 million. Part of this
was Dolans decision to pay $22.25-$22.75 for each of the shares owned by former owner,
Jacobs, and other shareholders. This allowed the team which in 1997 had become private to
become private once again.
The Cleveland Indians are among the best values in all of baseball (2014 Fan cost
index). The average cost for four tickets, four small sodas, two hats, two small beers, two
programs and parking is $162.64 for the Cleveland Indians. This price is extremely low
compared to the average cost which is $212.46, with the highest price being for the Boston Red
Sox at $350.78. It may seem as though it is bad to have low ticket prices, but when talking about
the Cleveland Indians it is apparent to many that it shows their extreme success. The Cleveland
Indians have proven they are a very competitive team that has allowed them to receive many
donations and sponsors, overall helping with the costs of running the team. Due to this the
Cleveland Indians are able to price their tickets, food, merchandise and parking so low. Dolans
high economic intelligence is proven in his idea to price the teams tickets very low. He believes

Lunt 6

it will allow for more fans to be able to afford the tickets causing more fans to come; increasing
profits. Even though the tickets are much cheaper than the Boston Red Sox, they are still able to
compete with the team because of the higher attendance the Indians receive.
The Cleveland Indians team consists of thirty-two members who all help to increase the
success and financial status of the team. The three highest paying members of the Cleveland
Indians are Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and David Murphy. Nick Swisher, the highest paid
member of the team, makes $15,000,000 per year and is the teams first base man. Swisher had a
horrible season last year but unlike the National Football League, Major League Baseball
requires that all players must be paid a partial amount of their salary if they are cut and cant be
cut during the season. Due to this, Swisher had guaranteed money which is an extremely
important part of the salaries of baseball players. Michael Bourn, the second highest paid
member of the team, makes $13,500,000 per year and is the teams center fielder. David
Murphy, the third highest paid member of the team, make significantly less than the other two
members at $5,500,000 and is one of the teams main outfielders. Justin Masterson, the teams
pitcher during the 2014 season, was paid a very low amount when being compared to the other
top players of the team. Due to his low salary, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, which
shows another crucial part about the economics of baseball players salaries; if a player believes
he is worth more than he is being paid he will switch teams causing a constant circulation of
players and increasing salaries. The Cleveland Indians plays at the famous Progressive Field,
previously called Jacobs Field, located in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland, Ohio has a metro area
population of 2.1 million which has directly helped increase the success of the team.
The Cleveland Indians are one of the most successful baseball teams in the American
League. Through the long history of baseball in America, the Indians were able to appeal to the
patriotism of many Clevelanders allowing the team to rise in economic standings. The Indians

Lunt 7

have won two major championships which have helped significantly increase the teams profits.
The Cleveland Indians became so successful that when they were purchased in 2000 by their
current owner, Lawrence Dolan, they were the highest ever paid for a team. Through their
successes they have been able to make millions of dollars through radio and broadcasting rights,
their selling of merchandise which has tremendously increased through their partnership with
Nike, gate sales, and concession sales. Overall, the Cleveland Indians have been able to find a
city that helps provide the support a Major League Baseball team needs in order to become as
successful as the Cleveland Indians are.

Lunt 8

Works Cited
"Baseball's Highest-Paid Players 2014." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, Apr. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2014/03/26/baseballs-highest-paid-players2014/>.
"Broadcasters." Indians. Cleveland Indians, 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fcleveland.indians.mlb.com%2Fteam%2Fbroadcasters.jsp%3Fc_id%3Dcle>.
"Cleveland Indians Charities (CIC)." Cleveland Indians. Cleveland Indians Charities, 2014. Web. 04
Dec. 2014. <http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/community/cic.jsp>.
"Cleveland Indians." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.forbes.com/teams/cleveland-indians/>.
ESPN. "Cleveland Indians Salary Information." ESPN MLB. ESPN, 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fespn.go.com%2Fmlb%2Fteam%2Fsalaries%2F_%2Fname%2Fcle%2Fclevel
and-indians>.
"Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014. <http://images.google.com/>.
Haupert, Michael J. "The Economic History of Major League Baseball." EH.net. Economic History
Services, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Feh.net%2Fencyclopedia%2Fthe-economichistory-of-major-league-baseball%2F>.
"History of Baseball in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 11 Dec.
2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHistory_of_baseball_in_the_United_States%2
3Rise_of_the_major_leagues>.
"Indians History." Cleveland Indians. Cleveland Indians, 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
<http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/history/cle_history_overview.jsp>.

Lunt 9

Sandomir, Richard. "A Dolan Agrees to Purchase the Indians for $320 Million." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 04 Nov. 1999. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/05/sports/baseball-a-dolan-agrees-to-purchase-the-indiansfor-320-million.html>.
"Team-by-Team Information." Major League Baseball. MLB Advanced Media, 2014. Web. 04 Dec.
2014. <http://mlb.mlb.com/team/>.