The value of Major League Baseball clubs is increasing, with the New York Yankees being the most valuable team, amid uncertainty in the field of regional sports networks.
The Yankees have been named Forbes’ baseball’s most valuable team, with value rising 18 percent from last season to a valuation of a whopping $7.1 billion.
With the Steinbrenner family in charge, the Yankees have seen greater success and a widening gap from their rivals in the rest of the league.
The next closest team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is worth $4.8 billion. The Boston Red Sox ($4.5 billion) and Chicago Cubs ($4.1 billion) are the only other teams with valuations above $4 billion, according to the list.
The San Francisco Giants, worth $3.7 billion, round out the top five teams in Major League Baseball.
The New York Yankees remain the most valuable team in all of Major League Baseball.
But problems at Bally Sports, a regional sports network brand, could spell trouble for 2023.
At the other end of the table, the Miami Marlins are the least valuable team in all of baseball with a value of $1 billion.
The next four teams, rounding out the bottom five, are the Oakland Athletics ($1.18 billion), Cincinnati Reds ($1.19 billion), Kansas City Chiefs ($1.2 billion) and Tampa Bay Rays ($1.25 billion).
The team that experienced the most growth in value is the Seattle Mariners, whose value increased 29 percent. The Ms also have the highest operating income of any MLB team at $83.8 million.
Seven teams experienced no growth: the Washington Nationals, the Minnesota Twins, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cleveland Guardians, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Oakland A’s.
While there was no MLB team that lost value, trouble could be on the horizon for those teams whose regional sports networks are owned by Diamond Sports Group, which operates RSNs under the Bally Sports brand.
Diamond, one of the largest live sports distributors in the country, recently filed for bankruptcy. DSG and MLB have been assuring fans that they won’t miss any games.
Fourteen of the 30 MLB teams have regional syndication deals with Bally Sports, with the LA Angels being the most valuable team signed with them.
| Range | Equipment | Value (in billions of dollars) | one year change | Operating Income (in $millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Yankees | 7.1 | 18% | 16.3 |
| 2 | los angeles dodgers | 4.8 | 18% | 14.3 |
| 3 | Boston Red Sox | 4.5 | fifteen% | 71.6 |
| 4 | chicago cubs | 4.1 | 8% | 57.2 |
| 5 | San Francisco Giants | 3.7 | 6% | 74.9 |
| 6 | New York Mets | 2.9 | 9% | -138.5 |
| 7 | angels of los angeles | 2.7 | 23% | 35.8 |
| 8 | atlanta braves | 2.6 | 24% | 51.2 |
| 9 | Philadelphia Phillies | 2,575 | 12% | -3.7 |
| 10 | St. Louis Cardinals | 2.55 | 4% | 43.1 |
| eleven | Houston Astros | 2.25 | 14% | 44.3 |
| 12 | Texas Rangers | 2,225 | 9% | 58.1 |
| 13 | seattle mariners | 2.2 | 29% | 83.8 |
| 14 | toronto blue jays | 2.1 | 18% | -33.7 |
| fifteen | Chicago White Sox | 2.05 | sixteen% | -53.4 |
| sixteen | washington nationals | 2 | 0% | 45.1 |
| 17 | San Diego Padres | 1.75 | eleven% | -55.2 |
| 18 | baltimore orioles | 1.7 | 24% | 64.7 |
| 19 | milwaukee brewers | 1.6 | 25% | 22.1 |
| twenty | colorado rocky mountains | 1,475 | 6% | -13.1 |
| twenty-one | detroit tigers | 1.45 | 4% | -29.5 |
| 22 | minnesota twins | 1.39 | 0% | -30.3 |
| 23 | arizona diamondbacks | 1.38 | 0% | 28.3 |
| 24 | pittsburgh pirates | 1.32 | 0% | 51.5 |
| 25 | Cleveland Guardians | 1.3 | 0% | 38.3 |
| 26 | tampa bay rays | 1.25 | 14% | 9.5 |
| 27 | Kansas City Royals | 1.2 | 8% | 27.8 |
| 28 | cincinnati reds | 1.19 | 0% | -12.6 |
| 29 | oakland athletics | 1.18 | 0% | 62.2 |
| 30 | miami marlins | 1 | 1% | -0.5 |
Diamond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week. The move came after a $140 million interest payment was missed last month.
Diamond owns 19 networks under the Bally Sports brand with rights to 42 professional teams, including 14 baseball teams with the start of the MLB season just around the corner.
The Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all have its broadcast rights owned by Bally Sports.
The company, which is more than $8 billion in debt, said in a statement that it expects to continue operating during the bankruptcy process and that gaming coverage should not be affected.
Diamond Sports also said it is negotiating a restructuring agreement with debt holders that will eliminate most of its debt. Under an agreement with creditors, it would become a separate company from the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which bought the regional sports networks in 2019.
The company added that it has $425 million in cash to continue funding its business during the process.
Major League Baseball has set up a local media department in case it has to take over team broadcasts. The games would either be broadcast locally over the MLB Network or broadcast on MLB.TV should that happen.
