- The average MLB team’s value in 2023 is $2.32 billion.
- The New York Yankees are the league's most valuable team at $7.1 billion.
- The Miami Marlins have the lowest value at $1 billion.
It’s hardly a secret that baseball is an expensive business, and as teams fight to the top of the World Series odds, one has to question just how much these franchises are worth.
From merchandising and cable television fees to ticket sales and advertising, teams have no shortage of ways to make money. The collective bargaining agreement introduced before the 2022 season included new revenue streams for clubs, including advertising on uniforms and the expanded playoff format. Even with the ongoing issues surrounding regional sports networks, MLB teams have had no significant issues increasing their worth.
Now at the start of the 2023 season, the average MLB team’s value had increased to an incredible $2.32 billion.
So, according to Forbes, which is the highest-valued team in MLB and how much are they worth?
MLB Team Values
| RANK | TEAM | VALUE |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 11 | Houston Astros | $2.25 billion |
| 12 | Texas Rangers | $2.225 billion |
| 13 | Seattle Mariners | $2.2 billion |
| 14 | Toronto Blue Jays | $2.1 billion |
| 15 | Chicago White Sox | $2.05 billion |
| 16 | Washington Nationals | $2 billion |
| 17 | San Diego Padres | $1.75 billion |
| 18 | Baltimore Orioles | $1.7 billion |
| 19 | Milwaukee Brewers | $1.6 billion |
| 20 | Colorado Rockies | $1.475 billion |
| 21 | Detroit Tigers | $1.45 billion |
| 22 | Minnesota Twins | $1.39 billion |
| 23 | Arizona Diamondbacks | $1.38 billion |
| 24 | Pittsburgh Pirates | $1.32 billion |
| 25 | Cleveland Guardians | $1.3 billion |
| 26 | Tampa Bay Rays | $1.25 billion |
| 27 | Kansas City Royals | $1.2 billion |
| 28 | Cincinnati Reds | $1.19 billion |
| 29 | Oakland Athletics | $1.18 billion |
| 30 | Miami Marlins | $1 billion |
New York Yankees
At the start of 2023, the value of the New York Yankees hit a whopping $7.1 billion. It’s hardly surprising that a team as big as the Yankees have a huge turnover, but still, $7.1 billion is a lot of money, so where does it come from?
The Yankees sell the most merchandise worldwide of any team in the league. They made $143 million in cable television deals during the 2022 season alone, and had the third-highest attendance in the league (3,136,207 in total for an average attendance of 40,208 people per home game).
The Yankees are owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, a limited liability company controlled by the family of the late George Steinbrenner, who purchased the team in 1973 for just $8.7 million (equivalent to approximately $58.9 million in 2023).
That’s one hell of a return on investment for the Steinbrenner family.
Remember where you were when #AaronJudge made history. 6️⃣2️⃣ #AllRise pic.twitter.com/w4kbDJf5ZC
— MLB (@MLB) October 5, 2022
Miami Marlins
At the other end of the spectrum, the Miami Marlins are the least valuable team in MLB, worth just $1 billion (yes, just $1 billion).
The Marlins’ majority owner is Bruce Sherman, a businessman and co-founder of the wealth-management firm Private Capital Management. In Aug. 2017, Sherman led a business group, including Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter, to purchase the team from Jeffrey Loria for $1.2 billion. MLB approved the purchase in Sept. 2017.
So why has the team’s value fallen from $1.2 billion to $1 billion since 2017? The Marlins traded Giancarlo Stanton and his $325 million contract to the Yankees in Dec. 2017, which likely had an immediate impact. The team also had the second-lowest attendance of any team in 2022 (907,487 in total for an average attendance of 11,204 people per home game).
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