Baseball ticket prices increase

CHICAGO — Major League Baseball’s average ticket price rose 3.3 percent this season to $28.94, the steepest increase in six years.

Team Marketing Report said in its annual survey Monday the average is up 4.4 percent since 2013 after remaining flat in 2012.

Boston had the highest average at $52.34 after leaving prices the same. The New York Yankees also left their average unchanged at $51.55 after missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

N.J. casino deal expected to close

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The tortured sale of Atlantic City’s former Revel casino is expected to be finalized today, a day after a bankruptcy judge formally authorized its sale on the fifth attempt.

Florida developer Glenn Straub’s Polo North Country Club is buying the casino, which cost $2.4 billion to build, for $82 million, or about 4 cents on the dollar.

Southwest Airlines CEO reaps benefits

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines earned a record profit last year and the CEO benefited with a 24 percent increase in compensation, to $5 million.

Southwest detailed 2014 compensation for Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly in a regulatory filing Monday.

The bulk of Kelly’s compensation came in stock awards, which the Dallas-based airline valued at $3 million when they were issued, up from $2.25 million in 2013. Kelly was paid a salary of $675,000 — unchanged from the previous two years — a bonus of $224,775 and incentive pay of $904,770.

Viacom announces layoffs; restructures

NEW YORK — Media giant Viacom is announcing a round of layoffs and restructuring that will result in $785 million in special expenses to be booked in its recently ended quarter.

The charge will result from a mix of write-downs of underperforming TV shows and the abandonment of shows that it bought, as well as severance costs.

A Viacom spokesman declined to say how many people would be laid off.

Euro slides, but goods still pricey

NEW YORK — Americans hunting for a bargain on a new Beemer or bottle of Chateau Margaux thanks to the sliding euro should put away their gold cards. European luxury goods sold in the U.S. still carry luxurious price tags.

The European currency has fallen 10 percent against the dollar this year. In theory, companies that sell goods from Europe could pass on the savings to their American customers, said Ira Kalish of Deloitte, the consulting and accounting firm.

But there’s no reason to think that prices for French red wines will fall along with the euro, analysts said. Part of the reason is that most European consumer products sold in the U.S. aren’t aimed at most consumers.