Towards the end of last week, the Brewers made news on two occasions. The story that made the bigger headlines was the deal that will bring Trevor Hoffman to the Miller Park bullpen. The other piece of news was of the off the field variety, but one that might be just as important.
In case you missed it, the Brewers and the Potawatomi Casino announced a deal making Potawatomi the presenting sponsor of the team. Under terms of the deal the Potawatomi will have exterior signage displayed on the 117 Miller Park plaza light poles and will receive sponsorship recognition on the home and visiting dugout tops for each regular-season home game.
The casino also will include an outfield wall pad and representation on the various electronic sign boards at the stadium.
How much is the deal worth? Well, terms were not disclosed. However, considering what the casino is going to get, it's a good bet that the Brewers are getting a nice chunk of change.
It's actually the next logical step for the relationship between the Brewers and the casino. Potawatomi has been a longtime sponsor of the club. The Brewers were looking for a new may to make money. The casino was looking to enhance their visibility at Miller Park.
Still, there are some people who have problems with this. It didn't take long, but a friend of mine sent me an email blasting the deal. My friend wondered why the Brewers would make a deal like this, when the biggest scandal in the sport's history (or so he claimed) involved Peter Edward Rose betting on the game. My friend wondered if this wasn't the first step down that "slippery slope." Why, he asked, would a team in Major League Baseball, which also suffered through The Black Sox Scandal in the early 20th Century, make a deal with a casino.
I could understand that sort of thinking if this were 1989, and I remember then MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn taking action against Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle for taking a job at an Atlantic City Casino in 1979. But I also remember the suspension that Kuhn handed down being lifted by Peter Ueberroth in 1985.
There should be no one who has a problem with what the Brewers have done here. First of all, the Rose Scandal is old news and is not the biggest scandal in the sport's history. The Steroid Era is a much bigger black eye. Not only were players blatantly cheating left and right, but there is no one that can convince me that team officials had no idea such cheating was going one. My contention has always been that MLB was just as guilty as the cheaters themselves. Teams saw the jump in attendance numbers, saw the jump in their bottom line, and would have preferred not to have done anything that would have stopped the money train. We have all read The Mitchell Report. We all read the stories in which Peter Magowan, then the owner of the Giants, wondered why a certain outfielder got bigger and better as he got older. The Steroid Era is why Mark McGwire may never get into Cooperstown, and why Roger Clemens will likely join him on the outside looking in.
There are simple reasons why the Brewers did this deal with Potawatomi. In case you haven't noticed, we are going through a recession. You probably have someone in your immediate family who has been adversely affected by the economic times. If not someone in your family, then certainly someone you know. If you are reading this and you say you don't, you're wrong. I was laid off from my radio job three months ago. Why? Because of the economy.
The Brewers realize that they may not draw the same three million fans that came to Miller Park in 2008. People just do not have the disposable income that they did a year ago. The Brewers also realize they need to sustain the success they enjoyed last year. It takes money to do that. They need to make money in order to sign free agents. They need to make money to reward the young players who deserve contract extensions. They need to make money to keep their farm system going. If they don't get that money from sponsors like Potawatomi, they are going to get it (or at least attempt to) from the fans by raising ticket prices more than they already have. In other words, the team is going to get their cash. Would you like it to come out of your pocket, or the deep pockets of a sponsor?
The Brewers also don't have the same luxury that, for instance, the Yankees do. The Yankees have their own television network. YES makes the Yankees a lot of money, which is why they can go and spend like drunken sailors. And, the Yankees aren't the only team in MLB to have that luxury. The Mets have their own network, and many other teams have thought about trying to launch channels as well. The Brewers don't have that kind of cash cow at their disposal. They have Fox Sports Wisconsin. They have to make up for that disparity in other ways. Making a deal like this is one of those ways.
Imagine what would happen if the Brewers didn't have sponsors giving them the kind of cash they are currently getting. They probably would not have been able to make their $100M offer to CC Sabathia. Heck, they might not have even been able to make the Sabathia trade in the first place. The money that the sponsors are paying the Brewers will help as players like Prince Fielder head to arbitration. Without that cash, the Brewers would probably have to dump players like Fielder, Corey Hart, and Ryan Braun. If that happens, the Brewers turn into the Washington Nationals. No one wants to see that.
Besides, the Brewers are hardly the first team in professional sports to make a deal with a casino. Have you ever been to Lambeau Field? Have you ever seen the Oneida Nation Gate? How do you think that came about?
The NBA held an All Star Game in Las Vegas. For years David Stern and the Vegas people had a bad relationship. Now, there wouldn't be many people who would be surprised if a team in the league relocated to Vegas. Why the change in heart? Money. The NBA needs it. The casinos have it. It's a marriage that was inevitable.
These are the worst economic times we have seen since The Great Depression. Individuals need to make money and provide for their families. Businesses need to make money as well. Make no mistake. The Brewers, besides being a baseball team, are a business. Mark Attanasio is a smart guy. He wouldn't be involved if he couldn't make money. In today's day and age, businesses need to be creative if they are going to be in the black as opposed to the red. They've adjusted their philosophies. What was once taboo is no longer taboo.
The deal between the Brewers and Potawatomi isn't anything to be nervous about. Fans should be happy there are businesses willing to put money out there instead of being outraged. The alternative - a bad product, or even worse, no product at all - would be too hard to take.
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