THIS STORY STARTS IN NEW YORK IN 1945 –
These aren’t your father’s Yankees anymore. The New York Yankees were sold for $2.5 million on this date in 1945. If the Yankees were sold today, the asking price would be about 1400 times more than that – $3.7 BILLION, with a “B”.
MLB team values continue to skyrocket. The increases are almost incomprehensible. Even comparing for inflation, they’re way beyond the hikes in costs of everything else.
Here is Forbes Magazine’s comparison of team values in just the 10-year span from 2007 to 2017:
2007 2017 1. New York Yankees $1.2B $3.7B 2. Los Angeles Dodgers $632M $2.75B 3. Boston Red Sox $724M $2.7B 4. Chicago Cubs $592M $2.68B 5. San Francisco Giants $459M $2.65B 6. New York Mets $736M $2.0B 7. St. Louis Cardinals $460M $1.8B 8. LA Angels of Anaheim $431M $1.75B 9. Philadelphia Phillies $457M $1.65B 10. Washington Nationals $447M $1.6B 11. Texas Rangers $365M $1.55B 12. Atlanta Braves $458M $1.5B 13. Houston Astros $442M $1.45B 14. Seattle Mariners $436M $1.4B 15. Chicago White Sox $381M $1.35B 16. Toronto Blue Jays $344M $1.3B 17. Pittsburgh Pirates $274M $1.25B 18. Detroit Tigers $357M $1.2B 19. Baltimore Orioles $395M $1.18B 20. Arizona Diamondbacks $339M $1.15B 21. San Diego Padres $367M $1.13B 22. Minnesota Twins $288M $1.03B 23. Colorado Rockies $317M $1.0B 24. Kansas City Royals $282M $950M 25. Miami Marlins $244M $940M 26. Milwaukee Brewers $287M $925M 27. Cleveland Indians $364M $915M 28. Cincinnati Reds $307M $915M 29. Oakland A's $292M $880M 30. Tampa Bay Rays $267M $825M
In 2007 one team (the Yankees) was worth a billion dollars. In 2017, 23 of the 30 teams were worth at least a billion dollars.
Everything costs more today than it did in 1945:
- The average cost of a new home today ($371,200) is 81 times what it was in 1945 ($4,600).
- The average cost of a gallon of gas today ($2.43) is 16 times greater than the average gallon in 1945 ($0.15).
But the value of the New York Yankees is 1,460 times greater than it was in 1945. And team values continue to skyrocket.
Contributing Sources:
Forbes Magazine
The New York Times, January 26, 1945
Census Bureau – home prices