Total Major League Baseball player compensation reached new heights in 2022.

Payments to players topped $5 billion for the first time, reaching $5.2 billion – up from $4.5 billion the year before. 

• That sum includes player salaries on each team’s 40-man roster, calculated as the average annual value across each players’ contract.
• It also includes $16 million per club in additional benefits, including healthcare, pensions insurance, spring training allowances, meal and tip money, and taxes.

Six teams made luxury tax payments for exceeding the $230 million payroll threshold, led by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a $32.4 million bill. 

The New York Mets paid $30.8 million. They had the league’s highest payroll at $299.8 million, but were assessed at a lower rate because they had not crossed the payroll threshold the year prior. 

The New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox also made payments which will go into MLB’s competitive balance pool.

Record Revenue

The record payroll total corresponded with a record revenue year for MLB, which brought in $10.8 billion in 2022. New media deals with Fox, TBS, and ESPN brought in $1.8 billion, and sponsorship deals added another $1.2 billion.

The league will add a new source of funds this season with teams now allowed to sell sponsored uniform patches.

While Texas and Oklahoma are under contract to remain in the Big 12 until 2025, there’s a good chance the two schools could leave a year early.

Commissioner Brett Yormark says he’s “open to it” — if it works for all parties involved. 

An early departure would also mean paying an early exit fee, and that money could be used to reimburse the Big 12’s eight legacy schools. Those payments could reach as high as $168 million in total, per CBS Sports, but will likely be significantly less.

A year ago, the legacy schools voted unanimously to forgo a portion of their media rights distributions to help fund the conference’s four newcomers — Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston.

• Baylor, Iowa State, University of Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Christian, Texas Tech, and West Virginia each allowed the conference to retain $16 million, split between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• That sum will be drawn from the schools’ annual distributions of $42.6 million.
• That cash will be used to help the four new members, which will receive $18 million to $19 million once they join.

Cash Incoming

Even if the eight legacy schools have to handle a couple of relatively lean years, they can expect a steady flow of media money starting in 2025.

The conference agreed to new six-year deals with ESPN and Fox last year totaling $2.3 billion, or $380 million annually. Those deals will bring the conference’s 12 schools $31.7 million each in annual media revenue.

Canada has the chance to prove why it should get a WNBA team.

Toronto is hosting a preseason game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky in May at Scotiabank Arena that will air on Sportsnet and TSN.

“This is the way to assess the popularity of the sport in Canada,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “We’re certainly excited to see how the market responds, and certainly the fans in the country from a viewership perspective as well.”

• It will be the first WNBA game played in the country.
• A scheduled preseason game in Toronto was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
• The league played in Mexico in 2004 and Great Britain in 2011.

Toronto’s Time?

The timeline to expand and number of expansion teams for the 12-team league is unclear.

“A league of our size and scope … we’re going to expand at the right time,” Engelbert said. “Toronto’s certainly one of the names on the narrowed list.”

The WNBPA has suggested Nashville and the Bay Area (both Oakland and San Francisco are considered contenders) as expansion sites.

Engelbert previously said new teams would need around 18-24 months to prepare, including hiring coaches and executives and bringing on players through an expansion draft.

Nintendo is picking up the pace due to high demand for its hybrid console. 

The gaming giant is reportedly planning to increase production of the Switch after the Japan-based company shipped roughly 21 million units in the fiscal year ending March 2023. 

In November 2022, Nintendo slashed its full-year sales forecast for the Switch — its best-selling home gaming console ever — to 19 million units following lackluster profits. The company reported $4.5 billion in sales for the six months ending Sept. 30, 2022 — up 5% year-over-year.

Switch sales reached 6.68 million units during that same period — down 19% year-over-year — as Nintendo was hampered by the ongoing chip shortage plaguing the tech industry.

• Nintendo raised its Switch sales projection, believing it can now reach demand. 
• As of Sept. 30, the company has sold 114.3 million Switch units since its 2017 release. 
• The best-selling console of all time is Sony’s PlayStation 2 at over 155 million units. 

Nintendo is also looking to bolster its reach in the mobile gaming market, which is projected to exceed a valuation of $215 billion by 2028.

In November 2022, the company announced a joint venture with mobile gaming company and “Animal Crossing” co-developer DeNA. The two entities will establish Nintendo Systems Co., Ltd., which will work to “strengthen the digitalization of Nintendo’s business.”

New Stakeholder

Last year, the Public Investment Fund — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — acquired a 5% stake in Nintendo for $3 billion, making it the company’s fifth-largest shareholder.