Buoyed by a four-year stretch as National League West champions and a lucrative television-rights contract, the Los Angeles Dodgers received the second-highest valuation at $2.75 billion, by Forbes in their ranking of MLB franchises for 2017.
The New York Yankees topped the list with a $3.7 valuation, and the Dodgers were followed by the Boston Red Sox ($2.7 billion), Chicago Cubs ($2.675 billion) and San Francisco Giants ($2.65 billion) to round out the top five.
New York and Los Angeles were ranked first and second last year by Forbes, valued at $3.4 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. In 2014, Forbes valued the Yankees at $3.2 billion, which was tops in the Majors, and they were followed by the Dodgers ($2.4 billion).
While the Dodgers saw a rise in their valuation, they were among the five teams to have operating losses last season, per Forbes. Their -$20.5 million operating loss ranked behind the Detroit Tigers (-$36.4 million), but ahead of the Miami Marlins (-$2.2 million), Baltimore Orioles (-$2.1 million) and Kansas City Royals (-$0.9 million).
The Dodgers went into the season leading the Majors a fourth consecutive year in payroll. That figure did however drop since Opening Day in 2016, from to $233.93 million to $225 million. Included in that are contracts of players no longer with the team, such as Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp.
After a successful first season under Dave Roberts, who was named the 2016 NL Manager of the Year, the Dodgers are primed to make another run at ending their World Series drought in 2017. Bringing a championship to Los Angeles would invariably raise the franchise’s value in 2018.
