Forbes has released its annual team valuation list. Surprise: the Yankees are the most valuable team at $4 billion.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are No. 2 at $3 billion, the Chicago Cubs third at $2.9 billion, the San Francisco Giants fourth at $2.85 billion and the Boston Red Sox, at $2.8 billion, round out the top five. The two least valuable teams: the Marlins at number 29 and the Rays at number 30 at $900 million.
According to Forbes, the average MLB team is worth $1.645 billion, up 7% from last year, while average revenue was up almost 5% and operating income was down 17%.
There is always a lot of criticism of these sorts of lists, sometimes even from Forbes itself. Forbes has been doing it for over 20 years and, within the game, club owners laugh at it. Then again, they have a vested interest in downplaying their team’s revenue, profits and worth at some times and overstating team worth at others, so I’m not sure the owners are any more reliable either.
Ultimately, a team is worth what it can sell for. Like most things.
