Jonathan Mariner
Career Home Run
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| Mariner Photo courtesy Jonathan Mariner |
“There aren’t many activities that bring a community together so quickly — without respect to age, race, and gender lines — as a winning ball club,” observes Jonathan D. Mariner, the veteran sports executive who has served as Major League Baseball’s financial watchdog since early 2002. “Baseball is a public trust,” elaborates the thoughtful CFO who oversees MLB’s $800 million budget. “Every decision you make is analyzed, debated, and second-guessed by fans, politicians, sportswriters, and players. It complicates things, but it also makes it fun.”
“Fun” might not be the word everyone would use to describe the daunting tasks of reversing the league’s widespread reliance on deficit spending and leveling the lopsided financial playing field that exists for baseball’s haves and have-nots. But Mariner is confident that specific corrective measures negotiated as part of last year’s collective bargaining agreement will usher in a new era of fiscal responsibility. “Those measures — luxury taxes, revenue sharing, and debt limits — have teeth,” Mariner notes, “and a large part of my job is to make sure the teams comply.”
Another priority is making sure baseball’s future is fan-friendly. Mariner is part of a Commissioner’s task force charged with studying “how the next generation wants to be entertained and informed about the game.” With fans already taking advantage of Internet feeds to follow their favorite teams in far-flung cities, notes Mariner, “the interface may be changing, but the sense of community is as strong as ever.”
— DEB
