Tom / Welch - for ball clubs, isn't the statement of cash flow or the tax-based earnings more important than the income statement (sorry, that dates me as a CPA from the early '80s)? For example, does that statement of operations include a number for ballplayer depreciation? Weren't teams allowed to depreciate ballplayers at one time? There is no outflow of money there.
The LAC argument I buy the most is the use of the team revenues to pay off the debt the Lerners used to buy the club.