Yankee ballpark bonds

from today's Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal (3/3):

Yankees to sell another $300M in bonds to finance ballpark
By DANIEL KAPLAN
Staff writer
Published March 03, 2008 : Page 05

"The New York Yankees are selling another $300 million in bonds to finance their new ballpark on top of the $968 million the club sold in 2006.

The move is not a total surprise: The club last month disclosed that the price tag of the stadium had soared from $1 billion to $1.3 billion. However, the additional money could have come from other sources, such as equity from Yankees partners, instead of a bond sale." ...

"The team has said the price for its new ballpark has climbed to $1.3 billion. The ballpark cost has risen in part because of an initial delay in obtaining financing, increased security measures required by New York City, and enhancements to the facility, which is set to open next year.

The 53,000-seat stadium is expected to be a new revenue boon for the Yankees. The average ticket price is expected to top $100 per game, according to Standard & Poor’s, which rated the original bonds. The team’s 2007 average price was $47, compared with an MLB average of $22.69, according to S&P.

At a $100 average, if the Yankees were to sell out the stadium for each of 81 home dates, the team would pull in $5.3 million a game just in ticket revenue, or $429 million overall before the playoffs." ...

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