Indians score $1.23 million profit

The Indianapolis Indians made $1.23 million this year on $8.7 million in revenue, according to the publicly traded company’s
most recent financial disclosure. That compares with a profit of $1.27 million on revenue of $8.22 million in 2007.

Revenue gains were offset by increases in expenses, most notably the $1.7 million the baseball franchise spent on advertising
and promotion, an increase of $320,000 over the previous year. Grounds operation expenses were up slightly, to $3.52 million,
as were general and administrative expenses, which increased from $1.29 million to $1.35 million.

Indians stockholders will get a dividend of $350 a share. That’s the same as last
year, but up from $200 a share in 2006. The team is offering to buy back shares currently for $21,328 a share. The stock,
which trades on a limited basis, has traded for as high as $25,000 in the past year. Some stockholders believe the thinly
traded stock is worth more than $30,000 a share. If you want to get in on the action, you might be a little hard-pressed.
There
are only 774 shares outstanding. At $25,000 a share, that would value the team at $19.4 million.

Even in a year when the economy was less than stellar, the Indians saw increases in ticket revenue, concession sales and advertising
income.

This year, the Indians drew 606,155 fans, the team’s highest attendance mark since 2000. That put average attendance at 8,538
per game. If the economy continues to stagger, sports marketers think fans looking for relatively inexpensive entertainment
options could push the Indians’ attendance higher next season.