NEW YORK — Forbes estimates the New York Yankees are baseball’s most valuable franchise at $5 billion, up 9% over last year and 47% more than the No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers at $3.4 billion. The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped 1% to $1.26 billion, 22nd in MLB.
The Yankees are second among all sports in Forbes’ evaluations to the Dallas Cowboys, listed at $5.5 billion in the last NFL ranking.
The Yankees’ YES Network broadcasts Forbes “SportsMoney” television show.
The Boston Red Sox are third at $3.3 billion, Forbes said Thursday, followed by the Chicago Cubs ($3.2 billion), San Francisco ($3.1 billion), the New York Mets ($2.4 billion), St. Louis ($2.2 billion) and Philadelphia ($2 billion).
Miami was last at $980 million, a drop of $20 million. Also near the bottom were Kansas City ($1.025 billion), Tampa Bay ($1.05 billion), Cincinnati ($1.075 billion) and Oakland ($1.1 billion).
Forbes estimates the MLB average team value rose 4% from last year to $1.85 billion, the smallest annual appreciation since a 2% rise in 2010.
