Sports
What Are MLB Franchises Really Worth?
The trade wars could impact franchise values.
Just what are Major League Baseball franchises really worth? The answer is what someone is willing to pay for a franchise. Before the start of the trade wars on April 2nd, Forbes put out a list of its MLB franchise valuations. Forbes may have to do some reassessment with all the world’s stock markets values falling rapidly. That is going to have an impact on sports across the world. If the United States does enter a recession and if unemployment spikes, there will be less customers going to games and that too could impact MLB’s Canada franchise in Toronto. A U. S. trade war with certain countries could mean the cost of building materials will rise and that could impact Athletics’ owner John Fisher in his quest to find money to build a ballpark in Las Vegas. Tampa Bay Rays’ ownership wants to build a stadium somewhere in the Tampa Bay market and that could be on hold because of cost uncertainty.
For what it is worth, Forbes had the New York Yankees franchise worth $8.2 billion dollars while the Los Angeles Dodgers business came in second at $6.8 billion. MLB has not changed much since 1957 when Walter O’Malley took his Brooklyn Dodgers business to Los Angeles. The two franchises that were the most valuable in 1957, the Yankees at the top followed by O’Malley’s Dodgers business. The Boston Red Sox franchise has a value of $4.8 billion. The Chicago Cubs franchise is the fourth most valuable at $4.6 billion. In the fifth spot is the San Francisco Giants franchise at $4 billion. The bottom five include the Pittsburgh Pirates ball club at $1.35 billion. The Cincinnati Reds business at $1.325 billion. The Kansas City Royals franchise at $1.3 billion. The Tampa Bay Rays business at $1.25 billion and the Miami Marlins franchise at $1.05 billion.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
