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Is baseball dying? Nope, actually the values of MLB teams are skyrocketing

Mike Oz
New commish Rob Manfred rules baseball at a time when the game has never been more profitable. (AP)
New commish Rob Manfred rules baseball at a time when the game has never been more profitable. (AP)

There's a common belief among some sports fans that baseball is a dying game, mostly because the NFL gets more attention year-round. But the numbers say otherwise. Baseball isn't dying. In fact, the values of MLB teams are growing at an astounding rate.

Forbes published its annual list of MLB team values and profits Wednesday, and here's the big headline: Baseball has never been so profitable and teams have never been so valuable.

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According to Forbes' study, the annual MLB team is worth $1.2 billion as we head into the 2015 season, which is 48 percent higher than last year's $811 million. Any business will take that sort of growth. The New York Yankees, of course, lead the way with a Forbes valuation of $3.2 billion, up from $2.5 billion last year. Even the least valuable team, the Tampa Bay Rays jumped from $485 million in 2014 to $625 million in 2015. That's not shabby at all.

In last year's study there were five teams valued at $1 billion or more. This year there are 15. As we well know by now, the rise of cable TV contracts have stacked the bank accounts of MLB teams, helping account for the rise in values and in revenues. Baseball's revenues topped $9 billion last year, Forbes reported in December, but we're learning a lot more now from their team-by-team breakdowns.

(AP)
(AP)

Among the interesting takeaways:

• The Yankees had the highest revenue last year, with $508 million, but only $8.1 million of that was profit, according to Forbes.

• The most profitable teams were: The St. Louis Cardinals ($73.6M), Chicago Cubs ($73.3M), San Francisco Giants ($68.4M), Boston Red Sox ($49.4M) and the Pittsburgh Pirates ($43.6M). Surprised to see the Pirates there? Well, the San Diego Padres were seventh with $35 million in profits.

• Four teams didn't turn a profit last year, according to Forbes, and they weren't necessarily the small-market teams you expect: The Philadelphia Phillies (-$39M), Detroit Tigers (-$20.7M), Toronto Blue Jays (-$17.9M) and Arizona Diamondbacks (-$2.2M).

• The top five most valuable teams? You might have been able to guess them: The Yankees ($3.2B), Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.4B), Red Sox ($2.1B), Giants ($2B) and Cubs ($1.8B).

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!