Ever since the 2008 banking meltdown, MLB has been facing a major debt crisis spearheaded by the Mets and the Dodgers. Between the Mets’ investment at Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme and the McCourts (of the Dodgers) using the team’s assets as collateral to rack up an unbelievable $459 million of debt, Bud Selig has had to come up with emergency loans quite similar to that of the banking industry’s bail-out package. However, not all of the MLB teams are in the hands of such incompetent owners, which, despite the baseball scoreboards showing a general decline in attendance figures, 28 of the 32 teams witnessed a gain in value in 2010. In this baseball scoreboards feature, I have listed the top 5 teams that gained most value last year.
1 – Texas Rangers – although they are ranked at number 8 in terms of total monetary value of the team ($561 million), the Rangers grew the most last year in value at 25% ($206 million in revenue). In August 2010, Bop Simpson and Ray Davis bought the team, bringing $225 million in equity and a 20 year deal with Fox Sports Southwest channel worth $1.5 billion. The World Series appearance was a major source of increased and better sponsorship deals as well.
2 – Minnesota Twins – ranked 12th in terms of total team value ($490 million), they grew by 21% ($213 million in revenue) last year. The biggest reason for their growth was the success of Target Field in drawing approximately 3.2 million spectators which resulted in an increased stadium revenue of $75 million.
3 – San Francisco Giants – ranked 7th in terms of total team value ($563 million in 2011), the Giants grew by 16%. The Giants World Series win drew more than 3 million fans at the AT&T stadium resulting in a record revenue of $230 million.
4 – Chicago White Sox – their total team value in 2010 was $466 million which increased to $526 million in 2011, showing an increase of 13% in value. Although their average attendance fell by 1000 spectators per game, their favorable stadium lease conditions allow them to keep their maintenance costs at a minimum and keep a much higher than average percent of the revenue generated from concessions, tickets, parking and merchandise.
5 – Philadelphia Phillies – the total team value increased from $537 in 2010 to $609 million in 2011, showing a value gain of 13%. In 2010, the Phillies drew a record number of fans (3,647,249) to the Citizens Bank Park, resulting in a record revenue of $239 million.
Honorable Mention:
New York Yankees – the Yankees have been the most valuable baseball team for 14 straight years. The team’s total value in 2011 is $1.7 billion with a 6% gain in value. This year the Yankees are 86% more valuable than the number 2 team the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees generate revenue from 3 different sources: the team ($325 million in 2010), sponsorships ($85 million per annum) and the YES Network (sports channel; $400 million in 2010).
For more information on MLB, go to:
http://mlb.mlb.com/index.jsp