Forbes 2009 Baseball Valuations

Forbes.com: "In Pictures: What The Teams Are Worth

No one is getting richer faster than the No. 1-ranked New York Yankees, whose value shot up 15% this year to $1.5 billion. The Bronx Bombers pulled in $80 million--by far the most in baseball--from their rights fee with the YES Network in 2008 and moved into the most lucrative stadium in baseball this season. (Full disclosure: Forbes has a show on the YES Network.)

• The new stadium also means the Yankees will have to hand over a lower percentage of their revenue to rivals.

Yes, the team's stadium revenue--tickets, suites, advertising, concessions--is likely to go up by more than $100 million this season. But MLB permits teams to deduct stadium-operating and debt expenses from revenue before calculating the amount the league will take from them to subsidize other teams.

• Last season the Yankees had to hand over $95 million to the league so it could be distributed to teams like the Florida Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays.

• In the new stadium the Yankees' deductible expenses will be around $100 million, enough to wipe out the windfall in revenue."...

BizOfBaseball has a good synopsis. He listed 10 teams whose value decreased from last year:

• "Washington Nationals: $406 million, down 12 percent
• Atlanta Braves: $446 million, down 10 percent
• Seattle Mariners: $426 million, down 9 percent
• Detroit Tigers: $371 million, down 9 percent
• San Francisco Giants: $471 million, down 5 percent
• Houston Astros: $445 million, down 4 percent
• Cleveland Indians: $399 million, down 4 percent
• Texas Rangers: $405 million, down 2 percent
• Oakland Athletics: $319 million, down 1 percent
• Pittsburgh Pirates: $288 million, down 1 percent" (from Forbes via Biz of Baseball)

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