Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki, center, with Nolan Arenado, right, and Vinny Castilla during spring training. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
America’s pastime is doing better than ever.
According to , the league is worth $36 billion, and the average team worth $1.2 billion, an increase of more than 48 percent for the largest year-over-year jump since the magazine started valuing teams, in 1998.
What’s more: A record 15 clubs are now worth at least $1 billion, with the New York Yankees leading the way at a whopping $3.2 billion. They’re tied with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys as the most valuable American pro sports team.
According to Forbes, television money is the biggest catalyst for the league’s revenue growth, accounting for $2.88 billion (37 percent) of MLB’s $7.86 billion revenue in 2014.
But while the overall league growth helped the Rockies’ value jump nearly 49 percent, to $855 million, and their 2014 revenue increase nearly 9 percent, to $214 million, their standing relative to the 29 other clubs dropped. Colorado fell one spot this year, to No. 23 among MLB teams. Partially to blame, according to Forbes, is their viewership on Root. An average of only 37,000 viewers tuned in for each game, making the Rockies the fifth-smallest audience in the league.
, the Rockies were valued at $575 million with a 2013 revenue of $197 million and operating income of $13.7 million.
Below is the full list for 2015:
Forbes’ 2015 MLB Team ValuationsRankTeamValue1-Yr. ChangeDebt/ValueRevenueOp. Income1.New York Yankees$3.2B28%0%$508M$8.1M2.L.A. Dodgers$2.4B20%17%$403M-$12.2M3.Boston Red Sox$2.1B40%0%$370M$49.2M4.San Francisco Giants$2B100%4%$387M$68.4M5.Chicago Cubs$1.8B50%24%$302M$73.3M6.St. Louis Cardinals$1.4B71%21%$294M$73.6M7.New York Mets$1.35B69%26%$263M$25.0M8.L.A. Angels$1.3B68%0%$304M$16.7M9.Washington Nationals$1.28B83%27%$287M$41.4M10.Philadelphia Phillies$1.25B28%8%$265M-$39.0M11.Texas Rangers$1.22B48%13%$266M$3.5M12.Atlanta Braves$1.15B58%0%$267M$33.2M13.Detroit Tigers$1.125B65%15%$254M-$20.7M14.Seattle Mariners$1.1B55%0%$250M$26.4M15.Baltimore Orioles$1B61%15%$245M$31.4M16.Chicago White Sox$975M40%5%$227M$31.9M17.Pittsburgh Pirates$900M57%10%$229M$43.6M18.Minnesota Twins$895M48%25%$223M$21.3M19.San Diego Padres$890M45%22%$224M$35.0M20.Cincinnati Reds$885M48%6%$227M$2.2M21.Milwaukee Brewers$875M55%6%$226M$11.3M22.Toronto Blue Jays$870M43%0%$227M-$17.9M23.Colorado Rockies$855M49%7%$214M$12.6M24.Arizona Diamondbacks$84044%17%$211M-$2.2M25.Cleveland Indians$82545%9%$207M$8.9M26.Houston Astros$800M51%34%$175M$21.6M27.Oakland Athletics$725M46%8%$202M$20.8M28.Kansas City Royals$700M43%8%$231M$26.6M29.Miami Marlins$650M30%34%$188M$15.4M30.Tampa Bay Rays$625M29%22%$188M$7.9M
Tags: Colorado Rockies, Major League Baseball
