They had an operating income last year of $30.1M. And, it's due in large part to SportsTime Ohio's revenues according to this article.
Although both the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins were unsuccessful with attempts to launch RSNs in 2003 because they could not strike sufficient deals with carriers, the Cleveland Indians have shown that it is possible for a small market team to have its own network. The Indians started SportsTime Ohio in 2006, spurning a rights fee offer from Fox Sports Net Ohio in excess of $30 million per season. Although the Indians raked in less than $30 million in rights fees from SportsTime last year, team owner Larry Dolan and his family made a huge profit from their ownership of the RSN. Besides Indians games, STO programming includes coverage of the Browns, Ohio State, high school sports, the Mid-American Conference and golf.
Even though the Indians still rank 26th in Total Value among the 30 MLB teams, attendance jumped 30% for 2011 and the Indians average ticket price is 31% lower than the league average.
The team was valued at $353M last season.




