The A’s are off the charts, folks. I’m not referring to the team’s popularity or TV ratings, nor is it an attendance phenomena. Remember this chart?This year’s Fan Cost Index by Team Marketing Report has the A’s average ticket price for 2008 at:$29.20It’s way off the above chart, a whopping 22.3% increase over 2007 ($23.88). [...]

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt announced his long-awaited plans for Dodger Stadium. McCourt was assisted by a Vin Scully-narrated promotional video. 3-D models and renderings abound. The largely outside-the stadium project will cost $500 million on top of the $250 million spent inside the stadium over two years ago. They have the buzz words down, talking [...]

For a commissioner, Bud Selig makes a pretty good CEO. League revenue is up again, this time 9.3% over last season. That’s actually down from the last three seasons, when they typically had 14% gains. Revenue is still impressive and will only go up through the end of the current CBA. Yield like that would [...]

A new article by the Argus’ Matthew Artz confirms a circulating rumor: the environmental impact review process will go the whole nine yards, pushing its completion until the end of the year. Nothing can proceed until the study is completed, reviewed, and voted upon. Tack on the normal construction time, and it makes 2011 unlikely. [...]

Last week, we hit one of those so-called “perfect storm” situations that can occur with scheduling. On the main CSN channel, the A’s and Jays were locked up in a tight, late inning battle in Toronto. Waiting in the wings was the first playoff game between the Sharks and Flames. And the Giants were playing [...]

The “soccer village” is coming closer. Joshua Molina of the Merc reports that a team of developers and the city of San Jose have reached a deal for the developers to buy the bulk of the old FMC site from the city, upon which an 18,000-seat soccer-specific stadium and surrounding retail/commercial/hotel space would be built. [...]

As both local teams have ratcheted down on-field expectations this season, they’ve focused on a different means of getting folks out to the old ballyard – the food. The entire first week of Giants broadcasts have been full of plugs about new meal and dessert choices. One particularly brutal scene was earlier this week, when [...]