BDW in his own words

[Rojo Johnson]

Why are we rehashing comments from 5 years ago?

Does it matter when he was quoted??
If your owner says that MLB is a poor income source and he’s constantly whining about payroll, revenue, stadium financing….
Perhaps your owner shouldn’t have his capital tied up in a business that isn’t returning his needs.
This is an Ego play among the multi billionaires unless it was a family business passed down through generations…..
They get into this game for competition and winning and perhaps Cap Appreciation….of which BDW has most likely realized his max lifetime return so, perhaps its time to pass this Pro Sports Civic entity to deeper pockets who want to compete and can afford it and who dont really required an annual income stream from it.

Because the quote has been the subject of about 3000 threads in the last five years. The topic is getting created as if this is new information.

Obviously it speaks to the mindset of the current owner. If he and his partners require income and he states that MLB is a poor income source then why is he involved???

Cranny has never explained that. If the price of poker is too high, then why is Bill at the table?

[desertrat23]

Why are we rehashing comments from 5 years ago?

Does it matter when he was quoted??
If your owner says that MLB is a poor income source and he’s constantly whining about payroll, revenue, stadium financing….
Perhaps your owner shouldn’t have his capital tied up in a business that isn’t returning his needs.
This is an Ego play among the multi billionaires unless it was a family business passed down through generations…..
They get into this game for competition and winning and perhaps Cap Appreciation….of which BDW has most likely realized his max lifetime return so, perhaps its time to pass this Pro Sports Civic entity to deeper pockets who want to compete and can afford it and who dont really required an annual income stream from it.

Because the quote has been the subject of about 3000 threads in the last five years. The topic is getting created as if this is new information.

Obviously it speaks to the mindset of the current owner. If he and his partners require income and he states that MLB is a poor income source then why is he involved???

Cranny has never explained that. If the price of poker is too high, then why is Bill at the table?

He hasn't explained it because he can't. No one with a straight face can say owning a big-league team isn't a profitable venture. If the DeWitts aren't making money they're terrible businessmen.

[ScotchMIrish]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

[Goldfan]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

[ScotchMIrish]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Correct and that's why he won't open the books to scrutiny.

[Rojo Johnson]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Why believe Cranny when the owners won’t be transparent about the profit and loss? Open books make fast friends. Closed books make chumps.

[Cranny]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Why believe Cranny when the owners won’t be transparent about the profit and loss? Open books make fast friends. Closed books make chumps.

People who own privately held companies don't have to show their books. Except to shareholders. There are a number or reasons for this. I remember representing the sale of a privately held company where the owner wanted $16 million for his company and he showed a pretax profit of $50,000. We told him that we needed at least a pretax profit of $2 million to come anywhere close to what he was looking for. We sat down with his accountants and looked for "add backs". As the
the afternoon worn on, the accountants got redder and redder in the face from embarrassment. The books were audited.
We finally got the pretax up to over $2 million and were able to sell the company for $16 million. To give you an idea, under expenses there was a contribution to his daughter's college for $450,000. The college was having a capital campaign. So there's just private information that's nobody's business.

[desertrat23]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Why believe Cranny when the owners won’t be transparent about the profit and loss? Open books make fast friends. Closed books make chumps.

People who own privately held companies don't have to show their books. Except to shareholders. There are a number or reasons for this. I remember representing the sale of a privately held company where the owner wanted $16 million for his company and he showed a pretax profit of $50,000. We told him that we needed at least a pretax profit of $2 million to come anywhere close to what he was looking for. We sat down with his accountants and looked for "add backs". As the
the afternoon worn on, the accountants got redder and redder in the face from embarrassment. The books were audited.
We finally got the pretax up to over $2 million and were able to sell the company for $16 million. To give you an idea, under expenses there was a contribution to his daughter's college for $450,000. The college was having a capital campaign. So there's just private information that's nobody's business.

All very true. But a pro sports team is a very publicly-visible entity, unlike your example (I assume). There's simply going to be more scrutiny because more folks are interested. And if you go around crying poor and letting your product rot, you either need to explain to your customers or accept that your business is dying.

[Cranny]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Why believe Cranny when the owners won’t be transparent about the profit and loss? Open books make fast friends. Closed books make chumps.

People who own privately held companies don't have to show their books. Except to shareholders. There are a number or reasons for this. I remember representing the sale of a privately held company where the owner wanted $16 million for his company and he showed a pretax profit of $50,000. We told him that we needed at least a pretax profit of $2 million to come anywhere close to what he was looking for. We sat down with his accountants and looked for "add backs". As the
the afternoon worn on, the accountants got redder and redder in the face from embarrassment. The books were audited.
We finally got the pretax up to over $2 million and were able to sell the company for $16 million. To give you an idea, under expenses there was a contribution to his daughter's college for $450,000. The college was having a capital campaign. So there's just private information that's nobody's business.

All very true. But a pro sports team is a very publicly-visible entity, unlike your example (I assume). There's simply going to be more scrutiny because more folks are interested. And if you go around crying poor and letting your product rot, you either need to explain to your customers or accept that your business is dying.

What had been lined up, didn't work - All stars and HOF candidates at each infield corner and two super star potential youngsters on the rise. All went backward. Work stoppage now on the near horizon. Only way to compete in the future
is by building from within. Investment goes there. Pretty obvious.

[desertrat23]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Why believe Cranny when the owners won’t be transparent about the profit and loss? Open books make fast friends. Closed books make chumps.

People who own privately held companies don't have to show their books. Except to shareholders. There are a number or reasons for this. I remember representing the sale of a privately held company where the owner wanted $16 million for his company and he showed a pretax profit of $50,000. We told him that we needed at least a pretax profit of $2 million to come anywhere close to what he was looking for. We sat down with his accountants and looked for "add backs". As the
the afternoon worn on, the accountants got redder and redder in the face from embarrassment. The books were audited.
We finally got the pretax up to over $2 million and were able to sell the company for $16 million. To give you an idea, under expenses there was a contribution to his daughter's college for $450,000. The college was having a capital campaign. So there's just private information that's nobody's business.

All very true. But a pro sports team is a very publicly-visible entity, unlike your example (I assume). There's simply going to be more scrutiny because more folks are interested. And if you go around crying poor and letting your product rot, you either need to explain to your customers or accept that your business is dying.

What had been lined up, didn't work - All stars and HOF candidates at each infield corner and two super star potential youngsters on the rise. All went backward. Work stoppage now on the near horizon. Only way to compete in the future
is by building from within. Investment goes there. Pretty obvious.

We know WHAT happened. But the truth and reconciliation with the fanbase is still lacking. Can't fault people for not believing him when he talks.

[ramfandan]

Why are we rehashing comments from 5 years ago?

Does it matter when he was quoted??
If your owner says that MLB is a poor income source and he’s constantly whining about payroll, revenue, stadium financing….
Perhaps your owner shouldn’t have his capital tied up in a business that isn’t returning his needs.
This is an Ego play among the multi billionaires unless it was a family business passed down through generations…..
They get into this game for competition and winning and perhaps Cap Appreciation….of which BDW has most likely realized his max lifetime return so, perhaps its time to pass this Pro Sports Civic entity to deeper pockets who want to compete and can afford it and who dont really required an annual income stream from it.

Because the quote has been the subject of about 3000 threads in the last five years. The topic is getting created as if this is new information.

Obviously it speaks to the mindset of the current owner. If he and his partners require income and he states that MLB is a poor income source then why is he involved???

Cranny has never explained that. If the price of poker is too high, then why is Bill at the table?

Why is BIll at the table ? Well, you may be correct that price of poker is too much for him but he has a spot at the table because he is 1 of 30 guys that own the casino ? Last I read , the Cardinals have the 10th highest franchise value of all the MLB teams.
DeWitt bought the team in 1996 (29 years ago ) for $150M . Now 29 years later it is valued at $2.55 B Yes, that is a B .. BILLION ! If my math is correct , I think current value of the franchise is approximately 17 times more than when he purchases it from the Busch family . I am not a businessman .. To me 17 times more value in 29 years doesn't sound too shabby . Any accountants out there ?

[AtillaTheBlue1]

BDW is a liar

The Cardinals print money.

[Cranny]

Why are we rehashing comments from 5 years ago?

Does it matter when he was quoted??
If your owner says that MLB is a poor income source and he’s constantly whining about payroll, revenue, stadium financing….
Perhaps your owner shouldn’t have his capital tied up in a business that isn’t returning his needs.
This is an Ego play among the multi billionaires unless it was a family business passed down through generations…..
They get into this game for competition and winning and perhaps Cap Appreciation….of which BDW has most likely realized his max lifetime return so, perhaps its time to pass this Pro Sports Civic entity to deeper pockets who want to compete and can afford it and who dont really required an annual income stream from it.

Because the quote has been the subject of about 3000 threads in the last five years. The topic is getting created as if this is new information.

Obviously it speaks to the mindset of the current owner. If he and his partners require income and he states that MLB is a poor income source then why is he involved???

Cranny has never explained that. If the price of poker is too high, then why is Bill at the table?

Why is BIll at the table ? Well, you may be correct that price of poker is too much for him but he has a spot at the table because he is 1 of 30 guys that own the casino ? Last I read , the Cardinals have the 10th highest franchise value of all the MLB teams.
DeWitt bought the team in 1996 (29 years ago ) for $150M . Now 29 years later it is valued at $2.55 B Yes, that is a B .. BILLION ! If my math is correct , I think current value of the franchise is approximately 17 times more than when he purchases it from the Busch family . I am not a businessman .. To me 17 times more value in 29 years doesn't sound too shabby . Any accountants out there ?

To know why BDW, Jr. is still at the table, look at how BDW, Sr. originally got involved and his entire career in baseball.
Then look at BDW, Jr.’s entire career in baseball. It’s a long legacy. Not given up easily.

[Goldfan]

The Cardinals are valued at $2.5 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/11/cn ... -2025.html

They were purchased, along with the 2 stadium garages, for $150 million.
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1995-anh ... -st-louis/

That’s an over 1500% unrealized gain.

Thanks for the link. Has net profit been made public after ITDA?

If Gussie's kids had kept it they and/or their kids would have significantly more today assuming they didn't run it into the ground which is possible.

Net profit will never be made public, by design.

That's unfortunate because if what DeWitt claimed is true it would seem to make his case if he opened the books.

Even if Cardinals LLC true books are ever opened…..which they won’t be….there is so much moving, rationalizing, conjuring of expenses and revenue for a privatize Billion $$$ company that no one would be able ascertain Cranny’s EBITA….it laughable he brings it up when no legit numbers have ever been released.
If your household income at LEAST more than doubled the last 20yrs and you suddenly cried that you couldn’t pay the mortgage you took out 20 yrs ago
Now whose fault is that??

Why believe Cranny when the owners won’t be transparent about the profit and loss? Open books make fast friends. Closed books make chumps.

People who own privately held companies don't have to show their books. Except to shareholders. There are a number or reasons for this. I remember representing the sale of a privately held company where the owner wanted $16 million for his company and he showed a pretax profit of $50,000. We told him that we needed at least a pretax profit of $2 million to come anywhere close to what he was looking for. We sat down with his accountants and looked for "add backs". As the
the afternoon worn on, the accountants got redder and redder in the face from embarrassment. The books were audited.
We finally got the pretax up to over $2 million and were able to sell the company for $16 million. To give you an idea, under expenses there was a contribution to his daughter's college for $450,000. The college was having a capital campaign. So there's just private information that's nobody's business.

Cranny I already detailed earlier that even if we saw the Cards true books there is so much “movement of funds” as you outlined, that it wouldn’t matter……but thanks for confirming. And this is exactly why all your accounting lessons and excuses are irrelevant

[Goldfan]

Why are we rehashing comments from 5 years ago?

Does it matter when he was quoted??
If your owner says that MLB is a poor income source and he’s constantly whining about payroll, revenue, stadium financing….
Perhaps your owner shouldn’t have his capital tied up in a business that isn’t returning his needs.
This is an Ego play among the multi billionaires unless it was a family business passed down through generations…..
They get into this game for competition and winning and perhaps Cap Appreciation….of which BDW has most likely realized his max lifetime return so, perhaps its time to pass this Pro Sports Civic entity to deeper pockets who want to compete and can afford it and who dont really required an annual income stream from it.

Because the quote has been the subject of about 3000 threads in the last five years. The topic is getting created as if this is new information.

Obviously it speaks to the mindset of the current owner. If he and his partners require income and he states that MLB is a poor income source then why is he involved???

Cranny has never explained that. If the price of poker is too high, then why is Bill at the table?

Why is BIll at the table ? Well, you may be correct that price of poker is too much for him but he has a spot at the table because he is 1 of 30 guys that own the casino ? Last I read , the Cardinals have the 10th highest franchise value of all the MLB teams.
DeWitt bought the team in 1996 (29 years ago ) for $150M . Now 29 years later it is valued at $2.55 B Yes, that is a B .. BILLION ! If my math is correct , I think current value of the franchise is approximately 17 times more than when he purchases it from the Busch family . I am not a businessman .. To me 17 times more value in 29 years doesn't sound too shabby . Any accountants out there ?

To know why BDW, Jr. is still at the table, look at how BDW, Sr. originally got involved and his entire career in baseball.
Then look at BDW, Jr.’s entire career in baseball. It’s a long legacy. Not given up easily.

Which is why at the end of his life he would choose to go out a loser???

[desertrat23]

Why are we rehashing comments from 5 years ago?

Does it matter when he was quoted??
If your owner says that MLB is a poor income source and he’s constantly whining about payroll, revenue, stadium financing….
Perhaps your owner shouldn’t have his capital tied up in a business that isn’t returning his needs.
This is an Ego play among the multi billionaires unless it was a family business passed down through generations…..
They get into this game for competition and winning and perhaps Cap Appreciation….of which BDW has most likely realized his max lifetime return so, perhaps its time to pass this Pro Sports Civic entity to deeper pockets who want to compete and can afford it and who dont really required an annual income stream from it.

Because the quote has been the subject of about 3000 threads in the last five years. The topic is getting created as if this is new information.

Obviously it speaks to the mindset of the current owner. If he and his partners require income and he states that MLB is a poor income source then why is he involved???

Cranny has never explained that. If the price of poker is too high, then why is Bill at the table?

Why is BIll at the table ? Well, you may be correct that price of poker is too much for him but he has a spot at the table because he is 1 of 30 guys that own the casino ? Last I read , the Cardinals have the 10th highest franchise value of all the MLB teams.
DeWitt bought the team in 1996 (29 years ago ) for $150M . Now 29 years later it is valued at $2.55 B Yes, that is a B .. BILLION ! If my math is correct , I think current value of the franchise is approximately 17 times more than when he purchases it from the Busch family . I am not a businessman .. To me 17 times more value in 29 years doesn't sound too shabby . Any accountants out there ?

To know why BDW, Jr. is still at the table, look at how BDW, Sr. originally got involved and his entire career in baseball.
Then look at BDW, Jr.’s entire career in baseball. It’s a long legacy. Not given up easily.

It's a very long legacy. Which is why it's sad to see it self-tarnished.