Research

Chicago White Sox Charities Snapshot

Eight Man Out. Frank Thomas. Carlton Fisk without the earflaps. Mark Buerhle. Paul Konerko. Robin Ventura being pummeled by Nolan Ryan. These are the things that come to mind when I think of the White Sox. What doesn't come to mind is anything to do with their community involvement, but maybe it should?In fact, despite maybe the worst color set of all MLB teams for my usual graphic, the Chicago White Sox Charities (CWSC) does well in my IMPACT+ metric.

The highlight of their efforts is the ACE (Amateur City Elite) Program they have run since "to reverse the declining interest and participation in baseball among African American youth, while offering resources and mentorship to pull kids away from the dangers of some of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods. Now in its 19th year, ACE provides the financial means and educational tools for more than 150 youth annually and helps prepare each participant to succeed in life beyond the diamond. The program boasts a 99 percent high school graduation rate and has helped more than 300 students earn scholarships to schools like Louisville, Michigan and Vanderbilt, as well as several Historically Black Colleges & Universities" (via MLB.com).

The program was cited as the main reason why the White Sox were awarded the 2022 Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence, which made them a repeat winner (2011) along with the Red Sox (2010 and 2019) and Blue Jays (2012 and 2020).

Another interesting aspect of the CWSC is that they are the first team I've come across that publishes the full list of grantees, including recipients of the fund White Sox Community Fund, which sits within the McCormick Foundation and is not required to be disclosed. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/charities/impact/grant-recipients

Perhaps most striking about their numbers is the increase in revenue in 2023 when contributions spiked to $4.7M from $1.8M in 2022 and then reverted back to $1.9M in 2024. I couldn't find any background or data that explains this increase. I know it's not coming from their 50/50 raffle which has been steady throughout, raising between $1M and $1.7M annually in non-pandemic years, and accounting for one-third to one-half of their revenue in all non-spike years.

Cleveland Guardians Charities Snapshot

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Kansas City Royals Foundation Snapshot

Small market, big impact. The Kansas City Royals rank near the bottom of the league in franchise valuation and team revenue. When I began this research, I expected that these two metrics would correlate most closely with how much a foundation raises and deploys. And yet the Royals Foundation lands

Cincinnati Reds Community Fund Snapshot

I'm halfway through this project of publishing snapshots on each team, and one of the things that has made it interesting is the ability, beyond looking at numbers on a spreadsheet, to compare foundations to each other. In my last post, I compared the Brewers Community Foundation with

Brewers Community Foundation Snapshot

Staying in the NL and looking at another mid-market team: the Milwaukee Brewers, a franchise that continues to outpace many of the more moneyed teams in baseball on the field. It's interesting to look at the Brewers Community Foundation immediately after the Rockies, because these are two

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Cleveland Guardians Charities Snapshot

Kansas City Royals Foundation Snapshot

Cincinnati Reds Community Fund Snapshot

Brewers Community Foundation Snapshot