Off-season may lead to new playing fields for angels, Dodgers.

ALTHOUGH neither franchise advanced to the Fall Classic, the Dodgers and Angels provided the region with the most compelling season in recent memory.

Now, each team's owner now faces a daunting off-season riddled with difficult business decisions. The strategies and tactics undertaken by the Dodgers' Frank McCourt and Angels' Arte Moreno will not only have a lasting impact on their own franchises, but also will likely affect each other.

And because the turf war is taking place at a time when the Lakers are rebuilding, the National Hockey League is mired in a labor dispute and the region lacks an NFL franchise. the stakes are enormous.

In order to remain competitive, the Dodgers will be hard pressed to reduce their 2004 payroll of $93 million. Any measurable reduction will be met by howling fans who will suggest that McCourt, who bought the team earlier in the year for $430 million, is so financially leveraged that his only hope of digging out will be to slash payroll. Should McCourt decide to trim spending, MVP candidate and free agent third baseman, Adrian Beltre, may seek greener pastures. Beltre's $5 million salary is poised to more than double, making him a luxury the Dodgers may not be able to afford.

Besides trimming payroll, the Dodgers can also charge more for tickets and concessions, provided they feel the market will bear such increases. Should the Dodgers on-field performance falter, any short-term financial gains resulting from increased turnstile-related revenue, such as that flowing from the recently announced addition of 1,600 high-priced field-level seats, will certainly be jeopardized.

For his Angels to become profitable, Moreno also hopes to trim a team payroll that has increased 27 percent, to $100 million, since his acquisition of the team in 2003 for $183 million. Because his tenure has been more financially secure than that of McCourt, Angel fans may be more willing to give Moreno the benefit of the doubt, especially since most believe the franchise is on the right track. This belief has been bolstered by the MVP caliber performance of outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, who earned $11 million last season and is signed through 2008.

Additionally, Moreno may have a bit more wiggle room in terms of increasing prices since his tend to be below the league average while the Dodgers have recently straddled it. Major League Baseball's Fan Cost Index, which measures the total average cost for a family of four to attend a game, currently stands at $155, while the Dodgers is $154, and the Angels $133.

Assuming the quality of the entertainment experience is comparable and demand for both teams remains high, the Dodgers may lack the opportunity to measurably increase prices. However, because the seating capacity of Dodger Stadium is greater than that of Angel Stadium, McCourt may be able to generate more turnstile-related revenue based on volume alone.

If McCourt is unsuccessful in increasing ballpark-related revenue over time, perhaps his best recourse would be found in extracting added revenue from cable broadcasters. In the days following his approval as the team's new owner, McCourt extended, through 2012, the broadcasting contract with Fox Sports Net 2 to carry the majority of the team's broadcasts. All told, the Dodgers will earn in excess of $35 million from local TV revenue in 2005.

In Anaheim, Moreno has aggressively begun ramping up the Angels" cable broadcasts throughout the region. Since 2003, his deals with numerous networks have enabled the team to nearly double the amount of local TV revenue heading into 2005, narrowing the Dodgers advantage.

Nonetheless, the Dodgers" boast enormous global brand appeal and have historically generated substantially more revenue than the Angels--compelling business advantages that, at least for now, give them a leg up.

As this backyard squabble grows into an all out battle for the wallets of Southern California baseball fans, one thing is certain: following it will prove to be as entertaining as this past season's play on the field.

David M. Carter is Principal of Sports Business Group and is a professor of Sports Business at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.