The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-02
BY RICHARD MCCAIN NEA Service Sports Writer

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 BY RICHARD MCCAIN
 NEA Service Sports Writer
 Baseball Is just hobby with Tom Yawkey, and Phil wrlgiey Is in the game for the fun of 1t, and Clark Griffith flutters Into a great state of indignation when the suggestion is made that our national pastime is an industry.
 But, you people wno pay the freight, make no mistake about It. baseball is Big Business.
 It's big and uncertain, exciting and exasperating, romantic and soul- less.
 The butcher, the baker, the candle stick maker-all envy the major league owner. And, to be sure, the game Is most romantic and exciting. But no business Is more uncertain: A sudden, brief thunderstorm can cost as much as $60,000 in gate re- ceipts. Nor so exasperating: An ach- ing fiber in the arm of some logan who has a hop on his fast one may ruin a teams pennant chances and plunge 1t into the second dicision and financial disaster.
 And, though millions pay millions in annual tribute to their baseball gods, the industry Is not as profit able as you may suppose. Practically every dollar that marches thruogh the turnstiles passes one going out.
 Operating Expense is Terrific
 The New York clubs, Detroit, the two Chicago teams, the Cardinals, and the Red Sox realize large profits. But on the other side of the ledger, poro old Connie Mack, for one, had to sell everything and everybody but his birthright and batting practice pitcher in late years to keep from being dunked and drowned in Q sea of red ink.
 Last year, however, 1t Is believed that every big league team enjoyed e profit, with the possible exception of the Browns. It will probably be the same this season.
 The price of a franchise varies like the rent of Q business location. It cost Col. Jacob Ruppert $i,25,0o0 to buy T. L. Illusions half share in the New York Yankees. And Tom Yaw- key paid $l,000,000 for the Red Box franchise. But the new owners paid only about one-fourth that for the lowly Browns.
 The expense of operating a major league club is terrific. It aS roughly estimated that the average overhead is about $50,oo0. This is a middle figure. The Yankees, for instance, have a much greater overhead; the Browns less.
 Payroll Biggest Expense
 Players salaries-many of them exceeding the wages of 6 U. s. seTla- tor-comprise the largest single item. The average payroll toitak about 100000.
 Then comes the cost of new play. CTS and travelling expenses and sal- aries of scouts. This rnan-hunt is never-ending. Some teams have only one or two scouts; others have Q corps of six or seven. A conser- vative estimate of expenses in this department is $i00,000.
 The late William Wrigley, however, spent $4o0,0o0 on players in 1929, and Fob Yawkey has flung away at least $i,000,000 in the past few s,aapo n,a a aSxy kalA,ak v,a.snSa af UylaiNh was neither new nor talent.
 Office expenses-clerks, auditors, club officials-run around $60,000. Upkeep, taxes, groundkeeping crew, ushers, special police, ticket sellers, gate men, etc., take another Seo,oo0 or SO.
 Spring training costs a pretty penny. The club, paying expenses to. and from, and at camp, shells out about 5000. The homeward exhebi- ton tour is seldom 6 financial suc- cess, the roundabout railroad route and prolonged hotel bills eating Up whatever share Of the skiiIapy re. ceipts the club collects.
 The railroads net Q neat sum, too. Making four intersectional tours aIa- nually the big league club travels about i5,000 miles. Consider 30 men in a party and you ca nsee how the fares and Pullman charges will total around $2o,0oo.
 Hotel bills-l5 double rooms for 77 days at $5 per room and $3.50 Tor meals for 30 men per day-run close to Sl5,000 per season.
 But expenses don't stop here %. baseballs cost about $7.0oo, insurance runs around $7,50o, hospital and medical care takes $5,000, and urli- forms and such cost another $5,000.
 Million Customers Necessary
 To meet all these expenses a team must play before about 1000, 900 ctls- toners at home and on the road, un- less, of course, like the Browns and Athletics in recent years, they can sell high-priced stars. But that, in the long run, is bad business.
 The home club gets the bulk of receipts, which are split on the basis of admissions, and not dollars. In the National league, the home club gives the visiting outfit 2 cents for each admission and sends 3 cents to league headquarters. Tn the Ameri- can, the visitors share is 25 cents.
 Thus, the home team will make SIPS or $1.22 on every box seat sold, but only 25 or 22 cents on bleach CT ticket. It averages up that each admission means about cents at the box office inasmuch as more citizens in the bleacher pews than in box seats.
 It is estimated that close to 10,0OO,- 900 citizens pay to see major league games in the course of a season. Each club usually plays to the same number of customers on the road es