The Team Foundation Report - MLB - Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation
So we have our first “what the hell is going on here?” post.
From their website:
The Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation and the Baltimore Orioles, Inc., support many civic and charitable organizations with the goal of enriching the lives of fans throughout Birdland. Since the ownership group led by Peter Angelos purchased the team, the Baltimore Orioles have donated more than $10 million to support various organizations in the Orioles' community.
Google tells me that Peter Angelos bought the team in 1993. So in 30 years they have given a whopping $300,000 annually. Further, the purchase price was $173 million and the most recent valuation of the club from Forbes clocks in at $1.375 billion.
In 2020, they provided just $273,000 in charitable grants against nearly $343,000 in revenue. While this is good for an 80% ratio, the ratio of contributions over net assets ($2.6M) paints a much bleaker picture. From 2014-2018, that figured was just shy of 24%, and for 2020, it was just 10%.
Now, to be fair, there is the Peter Angelos is reported to be philanthropic outside of the Orioles. Per Wikipedia:
He has donated millions of dollars to the Democratic Party and its candidates, and is a major supporter of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation (Baltimore, Maryland). He is the largest individual donor to the University of Baltimore and pledged $5 million to the school in 2008. In 2010, The Baltimore Sun reported that Angelos had recently donated $10 million to the university. The same report notes that during the particularly hot summer of 2010, Angelos anonymously donated $300,000 to keep Baltimore city pools open.
While the Orioles Foundation has been just about as meek as the team, in my research I learned about Angelos’ role in fighting against replacement players in the 1994-95 strike. Dave McKenna wrote a very long and detailed article for The Defector about Angelos, and I recommend people take the time to read about him.
Without further ado, here’s the update tracker with a new column to reflect grants/net assets: