The San Diego Padres, a team that spent a lot of money last winter, has reportedly taken out a $50 million loan to pay its players’ salaries.
The San Diego Padres took out a loan of about $50 million in September to resolve short-term cash flow issues and fulfill player salary payments, according to the U.S. newspaper The Athletic.
San Diego CEO Eric Groupner said, “The Padres are utilizing all resources, financial and otherwise, to maintain a championship-caliber team. We have developed a 2023 capital plan with our ownership group and lender partners and are operating within that plan.” Another official added: “We expected to need a loan at some point this year. We are not in crisis. We’re managing our business responsibly,” evolving the financial deterioration narrative.
However, many observers are concerned about San Diego’s financial situation. In September, a third-party lender was willing to lend the team $100 million, and the team asked the secretariat to authorize the full amount, but was denied. The commissioner’s office capped the loan at $50 million.
San Diego had 61 sellouts this year, totaling 3.275 million in attendance. The club’s second-highest attendance total in franchise history. Regular-season attendance revenue ranked sixth in the league. Despite the box office success, questions have been raised about the organization’s finances.
“They have a lot more assets, they have a lot more fans, I don’t know what the problem is,” said a senior executive at a rival club who was unaware of San Diego’s loan. An unnamed San Diego official said, “I’m not sure why we need to borrow more money despite the increase in revenue. The level of player salaries is probably beyond what we can support.”
San Diego, which is not a big-market team by nature, lost its broadcasting rights in late May, which is a big part of the team’s revenue. The Diamond Sports Group, which operated the dedicated broadcasting company, ValleySports, declared bankruptcy after being unable to pay more than 1 trillion won in debt. In late May, its broadcast rights deal with San Diego was terminated for non-payment. The rights deal was originally a 20-year, $1.2 billion deal from 2013 to 2032 that averaged $60 million a year in revenue, but the loss of the rights will hurt San Diego’s finances. 토토사이트
San Diego had a total team payroll of $248.9 million as of Opening Day this year, the highest in franchise history. It was the third-most expensive team in the entire league, and the team payroll has more than doubled in four years from 2019 ($97.2 million).
There has been no shortage of big contracts under general manager A.J. Preller. After signing Fernando Tatis Jr. to a 14-year, $340 million extension in February 2021, the team signed pitcher Joe Musgrove to a five-year, $100 million extension last August. They added free agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million) after the season, followed by pitcher Darvish Yu (six years, $108 million), third baseman Manny Machado (11 years, $350 million
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