Dodgers ranked second most valuable franchise by Forbes

With the coronavirus sure to impact valuations in the future, a recent Forbes list ranks the Dodgers as one of the most valuable franchises in baseball.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the second most valuable franchise in baseball, trailing only the New York Yankees, according to a recent valuation list published by Forbes.

The Los Angeles-based team is valued at $3.4 billion, ahead of the Boston Red Sox ($3.3 billion), Chicago Cubs ($3.2 billion), and division rival San Francisco Giants ($3.1 billion). The Yankees are the only team worth more than $4 billion, landing at an astonishing $5 billion value.

The Dodgers’ valuation is largely a result of their local media revenue through SportsNet LA. According to Forbes, they generated $188 million in revenue last season from their television deal, most in the majors. Of course, SportsNet, part of Spectrum Networks, and jointly owned by the Dodgers, recently reached a carriage agreement with AT&T, ending a six-year dispute that kept Dodgers games off the air in most of Southern California.

The franchise’s high value is a welcome sign to the new ownership group, led by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten, who purchased the team in 2012 for a record-breaking $2 billion from Frank McCourt, who had drove the team into bankruptcy before selling. In the final year of his ownership, the franchise was only worth $800 million, according to Forbes.

Looking ahead, in light of the coronavirus, with the 2020 season on hold, gate receipts have already been impacted. The Dodgers earned $185 million from ticket sales last season after setting a franchise record in attendance with 3.97 million fans piling into Dodger Stadium over the past summer. Gate receipts, which include club seating and luxury suites, account for 33 percent of the team’s total revenue, according to Forbes.

There are talks about starting the season in Arizona without fans, which would at least create some television revenue in the future, but obviously wouldn’t make up for the loss of ticket sales.

The Dodgers’ $3.4 billion valuation is a three percent increase over 2019.