A fascinating look at the Seattle Sounders finances from MLS Rumors . In the post Lenny Laymon calculates that the 2010 Sounders ticket revenues per game will be over $1m.
This is his breakdown:
There are approximately 22,500 Sounders inaugural season ticket holders who are paying the same price $26.65 per game as last season.
22,500 x $26.65 = $599,625.00 (call it $600k)
The Sounders have announced that they will cap season ticket sales at 32,000 in 2010, and that means they sold an additional 9,500 season tickets are an average price of $36.65..
9,500 x $36.55 = $347.225.00
Sounders capacity for MLS games this season will be 35,800, so about 3,800 additional tickets will be available at an average price of around $43.
3800 x $43.00 = $163,400
So here are the totals
$163,400 + $347,225 + $600,000 = $1,110,625
Under MLS rules the Sounders get to keep 70% of the gate receipts and the other 30% goes to the league. So the Sounders will gross $777,437 per home game, excluding any concession, parking, luxury box or TV revenue. That is over $11.6 million dollars this season,
This is an impressive number in any sport. It is even more impressive when you consider that the MLS salary cap in 2009 was $2.3 million. The new cap hasn’t been set yet, need the get a labor agreement in place first, but even if it goes up to $3 million, the Sounders are still on track to make over $8 million profit. That is impressive.