The Journal

Media Credit: Sam Dittmann Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, speaks about the economics of the Cardinals on Dec. 3 in the Sunnen Lounge.

It may be December, but Webster University had students and faculty thinking about baseball season last week. WU's Business and Technology department invited St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III on Dec. 3 as part of the department's fall speaker series.

DeWitt's presentation, titled "Baseball Economics and the St. Louis Cardinals," broke down the intricacies of building a budget and creating a revenue for a baseball team.

DeWitt centered much of his discussion on the Cardinals' tradition of high attendance rates at Busch Stadium, allowing the Cardinals more financial resources than most small and mid-market teams.

"The long-term average for Cardinals tickets sold leading up to 2000 was 2.8 million a year," DeWitt said. "But in the last ten years we've stepped it up a notch, in the low three (million)."

That included last year when, despite a nationwide recession, the Cardinals drew roughly 3.3 million fans. DeWitt made special mention of last year while debating the merits of spending both during the season and afterward. Last year, the Cardinals invested heavily in reinforcements at midseason, acquiring outfielder Matt Holliday, infielder Julio Lugo, third baseman Mark DeRosa and pitcher John Smoltz. Without an unexpected surge in attendance, DeWitt said those moves would not have been possible.

"We budgeted for probably 2.9, maybe three million people," DeWitt said. "Then we started playing well and things started looking good for us. The Cardinals fans kind of overachieved relative to our expectations. So I think it really played out well for us last year."

While the raw numbers show the Cardinals making a considerable profit each year, DeWitt said because the Cardinals' ownership primarily funded the new ballpark means the team's ability to expand payroll is limited.

"We pretty much take all available resources and pour them back into the product," DeWitt said. "We obviously have a debt burden from having to fund the ballpark ourselves. I view the payroll as relatively fixed."

Toward the end of his presentation, DeWitt took questions from the audience and offered insight on the Cardinals' approach to roster needs this offseason.

Regarding the prospects of re-signing Holliday, who became a free agent following the conclusion of last season, DeWitt said the team is hopeful, but will not break the bank.

"We've got something budgeted for him," DeWitt said. "We hope it'll be enough. And if it isn't good enough, it isn't good enough. But I don't fret about it, because I view that in terms of having that money available for other players." DeWitt also addressed the Cardinals' pursuit of a contract extension for Albert Pujols, who is under the team's control through the 2011 season.

DeWitt said he is "cautiously optimistic" about the team's chances of re-signing the three-time National League MVP.

Senior economic major Tommy Garner applauded WU for choosing DeWitt as part of its speaker series.

"I thought it was very informative," Garner said. "I got more of an inside look on the financial part of the players, looking at actual figures as far as how they operate, which I thought was very interesting."

The department's speaker series, which has been a platform for other St. Louis luminaries such as Ted Drewes and August A. Busch IV, is organized by Dr. Benjamin Akande, Dean of the school of Business and Technology at WU.

Akande said he always looks for speakers who are highly visible in the St. Louis community, and DeWitt fit the bill.

"Relevancy for us is engaging in the community's interests," Akande said. "In this case, I see nothing greater and more important than the St. Louis Cardinals. We wanted him to share with us what most folks would not get."

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