Baseball fans who have been hoping for the return of the major leagues to Montreal for the past few years may better understand why their wish is not about to come true, because the average value of a franchise is 2, $32 billion.
• Read also: Lively baseball and electrifying atmosphere
• Read also: Baseball: ‘When I saw a beautiful woman, I tried to sleep with her’ – Reggie Jackson
The specialized magazine “Forbes” published Thursday its annual ranking of the teams of the Silver circuit according to their financial value. And the coffers are well filled, judging by the 12% increase at the scale of the Manfred circuit observed between 2021 and 2022.
Also, net revenues climbed 7.8% to $10.3 billion: those relating specifically to ticket sales increased by 64% in one year, mainly due to the constraints linked to the pandemic at the start of the 2021 campaign, and were around $2.4 billion.
For the New York Yankees, business is booming, since the club is worth $7.1 billion, or 18% more than a year earlier. The Bronx Bombers have notably raised $143 million thanks to the televising of their games and have dominated the Forbes rankings since its first presentation in 1998.
Rounding out baseball’s top 5 are the Los Angeles Dodgers ($4.8 billion), also up 18%, the Boston Red Sox ($4.5 billion), the Chicago Cubs ($4.1 billion $) and the San Francisco Giants ($3.7 billion). The winners of the last World Series, the Houston Astros, rank 11th at $2.250 million, which is an increase of 14%. In terms of profits amassed, however, it was the Seattle Mariners who won the prize with $83.8 million, ahead of the Giants at $74.9 million and the Sox at $71.6 million.
The Blue Jays among the big losers
As for the Toronto Blue Jays, holders of the 14th echelon with a value of $2.1 billion, it is not so much the increase of 18% that holds the attention as the operating losses of $33.7 million; it is the fourth largest deficit after those of the high-spending New York Mets ($138.5 million), San Diego Padres ($55.2 million) and Chicago White Sox ($53.4 million) .
At the bottom of the pack, the Miami Marlins are worth $1 billion, just behind the Oakland Athletics ($1.180 billion) and the Cincinnati Reds ($1.190 billion). Mentioned in the failed project of sister cities with Montreal, the Tampa Bay Rays are in 26th place at $ 1.265 billion.
Ranking on the financial value of Major League Baseball teams in 2022:
- 1 – New York Yankees, $7.1 billion
- 2 – Los Angeles Dodgers, $4.8 billion
- 3 – Boston Red Sox, $4.5 billion
- 4 – Chicago Cubs, $4.1 billion
- 5 – San Francisco Giants, $3.7 billion
- 6 – New York Mets, $2.9 billion
- 7 – Los Angeles Angels, $2.7 billion
- 8 – Atlanta Braves, $2.6 billion
- 9 – Philadelphia Phillies, $2.575 billion
- 10 – St. Louis Cardinals, $2.55 billion
- 14 – Toronto Blue Jays, $2.1 billion
- 30 – Miami Marlins, $1 billion
*Source: Forbes
