Archive for Business

This comes in response to Wednesday’s grouchy mocking of the Todd Stottlemyre-funded Twitter/day-trading venture, StockTwits.com: As a fan of both Twitter and StockTwits (though I know one of the founders…), I have to step up to defend StockTwits. It’s a bit unfair to condemn it… Twitter, when used properly, becomes an amazingly useful information and […]

Given how the John Moores was able to sell a huge stake in the Padres to Jeff Moorad almost overnight, one wonders why it has taken Sam Zell so long to sell the Cubs. Well, besides the fact that unlike the Padres’ deal, the Cubs sale wasn’t an exercise in Kabuki theater designed to help […]

Two of the more annoying things to come down the pike in the past decade — day traders and Twitter — are now working together, backed in part by a former Major Leaguer: Launched in October, StockTwits.com has 30,000 registered users, following stock commentary from 1,000 people who “tweet” every day for the site. They […]

Newsday’s John Jeansonne reports the results of some consumer research which suggests that baseball’s popularity is eroding compared to the other major sports: It’s not just the stupid economy. (Although the Yankees’ 76.3-percent jump in average ticket price amid our Great Recession could have its unpleasant consequences this season.) Major League Baseball, according to the […]

Well, maybe it’s not official yet, but they and the Mets have an official just about everything else: Official Automobile Classified Company: Autotrader.com Official Supermarket Retailer: Stop & Shop Official Rail Fare: Amtrak Official Non-Dairy Creamer: Nestlé Coffee-Mate Official Deli Meat: Boar’s Head Official Pudding: Kozy Shack Official Non-Kosher Hot Dog & French Fry: Nathan’s […]

I kind of went hog wild on the franchise devaluation thing around here last week. Some agreed, others felt I (and my pinch hitting friend Ethan) went a bit overboard. Well, let’s throw this bit of news into the pot and see what cooks up: Private equity legend Tom Hicks’ sports team holding company has […]

This is different: The Major League Baseball Players Association on Friday will open its first retail outlet devoted to selling player-only merchandise. The store, which will be inside Citi Field and be operated by Aramark, is an attempt to boost licensing revenue for the union and to promote star players, much as the N.B.A. and […]

TUCK! toons goodness every week!

Following up on deMause’s note about empty seats in Shea, Bob Raissman wonders how a less-than-capacity crowd at Yankee Stadium is going to look to the viewers at home: Ticket talk triggered a memory from long ago – Sept. 22, 1966. The Yankees would finish in 10th place that season and on that day, 413 […]

Every year, lawmakers, chambers of commerce and municipalities in Florida and Arizona go on about just how much of an economic impact spring training has on local economies. On the basis of that impact, they argue for the use of public dollars to construct or improve spring training facilities, and towns practically go to war […]