For the 20th consecutive year, Forbes listed the New York Yankees as Major League Baseball's most valuable franchise. According to the list released Tuesday, the Yanks are worth $3.7 billion, which puts them ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.75 billion), Boston Red Sox ($2.7 billion) and Chicago Cubs ($2.675 billion). The San Francisco Giants finish out the top five at $2.65 billion. Per Forbes, the average MLB team is worth $1.54 billion, which represents a 19 percent increase from 2016. Although the Yankees missed the playoffs in 2016, the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs and Giants all qualified for the postseason. Over the past 10 campaigns, a team ranked in Forbes' top five has won the World Series on seven occasions. The new estimate of the Yankees represents a 9% growth in value over last year.
Of course, this comes as no surprise to baseball fans, because the Yankees' history of success combined with their location makes them an incredibly valuable franchise to own. Time will tell whether or not any team will be able to catch or even surpass the Yankees, since the closest franchise at the moment is the LA Dodgers, who sit just under a billion dollars behind the Yanks. Whether you love them or hate them, the Yanks are MLB’s Most Valuable Franchise.