Forbes Asia — May 2017

(coco) #1

18 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2017


LIKE THE SCREWBALL and the .400 full-season batting
average, the cash-strapped pro ball club may soon be a
thing of the past. The average Major League Baseball team
brought in $34 million in operating income last year, a 52%
jump over a year ago, and is worth $1.54 billion, a 19%
jump.
Why the surge in profits? The rise in total league rev-
enue last year was more than double the increase in player
costs, such as salaries and signing bonuses. As for the teams’
valuations, they’ve reached upper-deck proportions thanks
to new local TV deals and the escalating value of MLB Ad-
vanced Media, baseball’s interactive-media subsidiary that
the 30 clubs jointly own.

The Most Valuable


Baseball Teams


HOW MUCH IS THAT SLUGGER IN THE WINDOW?
Teams are managing player expenditures better, and franchises’ total costs rose just 3.5% in 2016, to $4.6 billion. Below, the yellow number is a team’s total payroll, in
1
Dodgers
$225.
–3.9%

2
Tigers
$199.
2%

3
Yankees
$195.
–13.3%

4
Giants
$181.
4.8%

5
Red Sox
$178.
–6.1%

6
Cubs
$176.
3.9%

7
Rangers
$173.
15.9%

8
Nationals
$164.
11.9%

9
Orioles
$164.
11.1%

10
Angels
$164.
–1.3%

11
Mets
$155.
12.1%

12
Mariners
$154.
8.3%

13
Cardinals
$150.
4%

14
Royals
$145.
6.3%

15
Blue Jays
$143.
4.3%

NEW YORK YANKEES
CC SABATHIA
$25 MILLION

BOSTON RED SOX
DAVID PRICE
$30 MILLION

LOS ANGELES DODGERS
CLAYTON KERSHAW
$33 MILLION

CHICAGO CUBS
JASON HEYWARD
$21.5 MILLION

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
JOHNNY CUETO
$22 MILLION

THE MOST VALUABLE TEAMS’
HIGHEST-PAID PLAYERS

VALUE OPERATING
CURRENT^1 1-YEAR REVENUES INCOME^2
RANK TEAM ($MIL) % CHANGE ($MIL) ($MIL)

1 NEW YORK YANKEES $3,700 9% $526 $39.
2 LOS ANGELES DODGERS 2,750 10 462 –20.
3 BOSTON RED SOX 2,700 17 434 78.
4 CHICAGO CUBS 2,675 22 434 83.
5 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 2,650 18 428 78.
6 NEW YORK METS 2,000 21 332 31.
7 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 1,800 12 310 40.
8 LOS ANGELES ANGELS 1,750 31 350 68.
9 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 1,650 34 325 87.
10 WASHINGTON NATIONALS 1,600 23 304 37.
11 TEXAS RANGERS 1,550 27 298 18.
12 ATLANTA BRAVES 1,500 28 275 15.
13 HOUSTON ASTROS 1,450 32 299 75.
14 SEATTLE MARINERS 1,400 17 289 11.
15 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 1,350 29 269 41.
16 TORONTO BLUE JAYS 1,300 44 278 22.

BY MICHAEL K. OZANIAN, KURT BADENHAUSEN
AND CHRISTINA SETTIMI

FORBES ASIA


SPORTSMONEY

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