CHICAGO — The Pirates had the 10th-highest operating income — or operating profit — in Major League Baseball in 2017, according to Forbes' Business of Baseball report. Additionally, the club ranks 18th in franchise value with an increase of one percent from the previous season.
According to the report, the Pirates had an operating income of $35 million last season, which is a decrease of $16 million from 2016, and the franchise is worth $1.26 billion. The numbers, though, are inexact since Forbes does not have access to all of the teams' financial records, relying instead on interviews with team executives, analysts and bankers, as well as reviewing some financial documents.
The attendance at PNC Park in 2017 was 1,919,447, an average of 23,696, which is a decrease of more than 500,000 from 2016 and 2015. The club's opening day payroll this season was $83,340,000, according to Cots Baseball Contracts, which is more than $12 million less than it was in 2017.
That ranked 26th of 30 teams in the majors. The Pirates traded Andrew McCutchen, who was set to make $14.75 million this season, in exchange for two players who did not make the opening day roster: Kyle Crick and Bryan Reynolds. They also dealt Gerrit Cole, who will make $6.75 million, for four players who account for a combined $1,696,500.
The Pirates saved roughly $600,000 by losing Juan Nicasio on irrevocable waivers last July and are not paying Jung Ho Kang's $3 million salary this season. They acquired Corey Dickerson, an All-Star last season, from the Rays in February, but it added less than $2 million to the payroll since the Rays took on the entirety of Daniel Hudson's $5.5 million contract. The Pirates sent $1 million to the Rays as part of the trade. They didn't spend a dollar in free agency.
"The drop of attendance resulted from us not playing well enough and, when we get back to being a postseason-caliber team, we will love our fans to come back out," Neal Huntington said following the McCutchen trade in January. "We know we need to draw them back out by playing better baseball."