Royals drop one spot in Forbes’ valuations of Major League Baseball teams
For the second straight year, the Royals dropped in Forbes’ annual valuations of Major League Baseball teams.
The Royals were ranked 28th with a valuation of $1.025 billion in Forbes’ list, which was released Wednesday. A year ago, the Royals were 27th ($1.015 billion) and they were 24th in the 2017 ranking.
Owner David Glass bought the Royals for $96 million in 2000.
Forbes reported the Royals had an operating income in 2018 of $5.3 million, which was among the worst in baseball and ahead of only the Marlins (minus-$22 million), Blue Jays (minus-$16 million) and Orioles (minus-$6.5 million).
For the Royals, that was an improvement over 2017, when Forbes said they operated at a $17 million deficit.
Forbes showed the Royals had $244 million in revenue in 2018 and $55 million in gate receipts, which were both lower than the previous year.
“Yes, the Royals still managed to deliver baseball’s second-best average local television rating (8.0) last season on Fox Sports Kansas City, but ratings were 26% lower than 2017,” Forbes wrote. “Meanwhile, attendance at Kauffman Stadium tumbled 26%, to an average of 20,556 in 2018. Most troubling for Royals fans is the team’s minor league system is ranked in the bottom third of baseball.”
Forbes noted the Yankees are the most valuable team ($4.6 billion) and had local revenue of $712 million last year, which was more than the Royals, Rays, Marlins, A’s, Reds and Orioles combined.
Here is the list of team valuations:
1. Yankees, $4.6 billion
2. Dodgers, $3.3 billion
3. Red Sox, $3.2 billion
4. Cubs, $3.1 billion
5. Giants, $3 billion
6. Mets, $2.3 billion
7. Cardinals, $2.1 billion
8. Angels, $1.9 billion
9. Phillies, $1.85 billion
10. Astros, $1.775 billion
11. Nationals, $1.75 billion
12. Braves, $1.7 billion
13. Rangers, $1.65 billion
14. White Sox, $1.6 billion
15. Mariners, $1.575 billion
16. Blue Jays, $1.5 billion
17. Padres, $1.35 billion
18. Diamondbacks, $1.29 billion
19. Orioles, $1.28 billion
20. Pirates, $1.275 billion
21. Tigers, $1.25 billion
22. Rockies, $1.225 billion
23. Twins, $1.2 billion
24. Brewers, $1.175 billion
25. Indians, $1.15 billion
26. A’s, $1.1 billion
27. Reds, $1.05 billion
28. Royals, $1.025 billion
29. Rays, $1.01 billion
30. Marlins, $1 billion
