An annual study of estimated franchise values for Major League Baseball franchises neatly foreshadows the looming upheaval in broadcasting and how the league plans to best leverage its local television rights in the streaming era.
For the 28th consecutive year, the New York Yankees lead Forbes’ annual survey of MLB franchise values, becoming the first baseball team to crack the $8 billion mark. At $8.2 billion, they still have a comfortable advantage over the No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers, who at $6.8 billion saw a 25% increase in value during a year in which they defeated the Yankees in the World Series and leveraged the first season of global two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani into a revenue bonanza.
And the top seven clubs – from the Yankees and Dodgers followed by the Boston Red Sox ($4.8 billion), Chicago Cubs ($4.6 billion), San Francisco Giants ($4 billion), New York Mets ($3.2 billion) and Philadelphia Phillies ($3.1 billion) all share a commonality:
They either operate their own regional sports networks or, like the Dodgers (Time Warner), Giants and Phillies (NBC Sports), are securely locked into multi-billion dollar commitments.
Every less-valued club faces some level of uncertainty with their television future, a once-existential crisis that became unavoidable in March 2023, when Diamond Sports Group, which held the rights to 14 MLB teams, declared bankruptcy.
And that line of demarcation will at least partially frame the tone of labor talks after the current agreement expires in December 2026, along with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s efforts to market local TV rights as a collective package.
Turn this TV off
The splintering of Diamond – now reorganized as Main Street Sports Group’s FanDuel Sports Network – and the massive loss of revenue when other networks were moved to higher-priced cable tiers has exacerbated gaps between the very upper class and the rest of the league.
The Dodgers, for instance, are locked into an $8.35 billion deal with Time Warner that runs through 2038; the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Mets either own, operate or have an equity stake in their own networks.
All that is great for the industry’s total revenue but could prove thorny for Manfred’s vision of marketing local rights in a bundle.
After all, an Amazon or Apple TV would likely want the game’s marquee franchises in such a deal, which would prove far less lucrative without them. At the same time, the bluest bloods still have a pretty good deal going and would be loathe to get lumped in with the two dozen franchises in less lucrative circumstances – especially since they already buoy the bottom half through revenue sharing.
Meanwhile, those left behind are attacking the local TV problem in myriad ways.
MLB will produce local broadcasts for six franchises this year, adding the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins to an in-house portfolio that already included the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
Like five of those clubs, the Texas Rangers were Diamond Sports refugees but opted to form the Rangers Sports Network (with the somewhat ironic RSN acronym), which will produce and distribute all Rangers telecasts beginning this week.
A positive in all this broadcast chaos is the acceleration of direct-to-consumer options for the viewer. Twenty-six of 30 teams – all but the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network), Houston Astros (Space City Home Network) and Seattle Mariners (Root Sports) will offer streaming subscriptions, many of them unbundled from a cable subscription.
Live, work, play
The Forbes valuations do not consider the value of team-owned networks nor teams’ equity stakes in them, nor the value of other sports assets or mixed-use real estate. Still, clubs that have gotten into the real estate game seemed to outkick their tax bracket.
The Atlanta Braves are the highest-valued club that’s still broadcast by the ghost of Diamond Sports Group, with a $3 billion valuation that places them eighth. And the Giants, who have begun construction on a 28-acre Mission Rock development near Oracle Park, rank fifth, ahead of larger-market clubs like the Mets and Phillies.
Spend less, make more?
Fans upset at teams’ lack of activity in the free agent market probably won’t like some of Forbes’ profit estimates.
While they are just estimates – only the Atlanta Braves, owned by a publicly-traded corporation, have some of their books in the public domain – the valuations, and, by extension, losses and profits have traditionally erred on the traditional side once teams are actually sold.
Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox are projected to have turned the largest profit, with $120 million in operating income. That dovetails with a period of relative austerity until this winter, when the club made a short-term investment in free agent third baseman Alex Bregman.
Coming in at No. 2: The Chicago Cubs at $81 million. Since 2020, when owner Tom Ricketts claimed “biblical” losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cubs have failed to flex their revenue strength over their NL Central rivals, and haven’t reached the playoffs since 2020.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles ($65 million) and Pittsburgh Pirates ($47 million) are lower-revenue clubs who were projected to turn a significant profit. Baltimore drew 2.28 million to Camden Yards, most since 2015, and reached the playoffs a second consecutive season with a young, cost-controlled roster.
As for the Pirates? They haven’t reached the playoffs since 2015, remain on the outside of all major free agent pursuits and have finished last or second-to-last seven consecutive years. Yet they enjoyed an attendance bump – buoyed a bit by star rookie pitcher Paul Skenes – to 1.7 million, most since 2017.
That enabled owner Bob Nutting to realize a nice profit, per Forbes.
Right behind the Pirates were the Seattle Mariners ($43 million), whose stellar pitching staff was undercut by an underperforming lineup in 2024; the club did little to improve it this past offseason.
Yet it doesn’t hurt to invest the roster, either. The San Diego Padres realized $32 million in operating income last season, even as late owner Peter Seidler’s nine-figure investments dot the roster. Though the Padres fall in the MLB-produced TV bucket, they drew a franchise record 3.3 million to Petco Park in 2024.
And being last doesn’t mean being poor. The Marlins rank 30th in franchise value at $1.05 billion, lost 100 games and drew just 1.08 million fans. They’re estimated to rake in $38 million in operating income.
Who’s for sale?
New Orioles owner David Rubenstein seemed to hit the right note when he spent $1.725 billion for Baltimore’s franchise, a deal that closed almost exactly a year ago. The club is valued at $1.9 billion, at least ensuring he’s not underwater on his new club.
The same can’t be said for Marlins owner Bruce Sherman, who purchased the club in 2017 for $1.2 billion; it’s now estimated to be worth $1.05 billion.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins are reportedly seeking $1.7 billion in their sale. Forbes pegs their value at $1.5 billion.
Hey, anything can happen in an auction.
MLB team values 2025, per Forbes
- New York Yankees: $8.2 billion
- Los Angeles Dodgers: $6.8 billion
- Boston Red Sox: $4.8 billion
- Chicago Cubs: $4.6 billion
- San Francisco Giants: $4 billion
- New York Mets: $3.2 billion
- Philadelphia Phillies: $3.1 billion
- Atlanta Braves: $3 billion
- Houston Astros: $2.8 billion
- Los Angeles Angels: $2.75 billion
- St. Louis Cardinals: $2.55 billion
- Texas Rangers: $2.45 billion
- Seattle Mariners: $2.2 billion
- Toronto Blue Jays: $2.15 billion
- Washington Nationals: $2.1 billion
- Chicago White Sox: $2 billion
- San Diego Padres: $1.95 billion
- Baltimore Orioles: $1.9 billion
- Athletics: $1.8 billion
- Milwaukee Brewers: $1.7 billion
- Arizona Diamondbacks: $1.6 billion
- Detroit Tigers: $1.55 billion
- Minnesota Twins: $1.5 billion
- Colorado Rockies: $1.475 billion
- Cleveland Guardians: $1.4 billion
- Pittsburgh Pirates: $1.35 billion
- Cincinnati Reds: $1.325 billion
- Kansas City Royals: $1.3 billion
- Tampa Bay Rays: $1.25 billion
- Miami Marlins: $1.05 billion
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