A new study from Sidelines claims that the New York Yankees made almost $500 million in 2022. This allows them to spend big on Aaron Judge and Carlos Rodon and cover a $210 million payroll that may touch $260 million with all benefits.
The Yankees won 27 World Series titles and this makes them unique in the American sports world. There is no other team in any sports league with a similar number of title wins. Thus, the Yankees are the most successful brand in sports. With an estimated worth of $6 billion, the team is the most valuable baseball team and the third most valuable sports team in all of America.
The study analyzed 152 franchises in NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, and NHL. The Dallas Cowboys came in first and the New England Patriots came in second. It gives the Yankees 16.39 points on the Rich Index.
Sideline’s research looked at how much each team was worth, how much money it made each year, and how much it cost to pay its players. Each factor got a score out of 10 for each team, which was added up to get a rich index score. The team’s wealth grows as the score goes up.
With a score of 23.45 on the Rich Index and five championships, the Dallas Cowboys are worth about $8 billion. They also have the most fans at each game, with an average of 86,000 people going to the AT&T Stadium each time. The Cowboys make a lot of money every year—more than $1 billion—and their payroll has gone up from $162 million to $214 million by 2023.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the second most valuable MLB team after the Yankees, with a 14.77 on the Rich index and seven championships. In 2022, the LA-based team made $565 million in revenue and paid its players over $215 million, which was one of the highest salaries of any American sports team. If you count benefits and bonuses, this number goes up to $288 million.
MLB franchise value in 2022, by team (in million U.S. dollars)
The Red Sox are third with $3.9 billion and the Los Angeles Dodgers are second with $4.07 billion. The Chicago Cubs are in fourth place with $3.8 billion, and the San Francisco Giants are in fifth place with $3.5 billion.
| Team | Value | Sport | Market | Stadium | Brand |
| New York Yankees | $6 billion | $1.338 billion | $2.789 billion | $1.030 billion | $0.843 billion |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $4.075 billion | $0.784 billion | $1.973 billion | $0.716 billion | $0.602 billion |
| Boston Red Sox | $3.9 billion | $0.874 billion | $1.674 billion | $0.804 billion | $0.549 billion |
| Chicago Cubs | $3.8 billion | $0.951 billion | $1.580 billion | $0.807 billion | $0.462 billion |
| San Francisco Giants | $3.5 billion | $0.960 billion | $1.416 billion | $0.719 billion | $0.405 billion |
| New York Mets | $2.65 billion | $0.903 billion | $0.943 billion | $0.492 billion | $0.311 billion |
| St. Louis Cardinals | $2.45 billion | $0.873 billion | $0.893 billion | $0.384 billion | $0.299 billion |
| Philadelphia Phillies | $2.3 billion | $0.738 billion | $0.953 billion | $0.342 billion | $0.267 billion |
| Los Angeles Angels | $2.2 billion | $0.690 billion | $0.941 billion | $0.345 billion | $0.223 billion |
| Atlanta Braves | $2.1 billion | $0.506 billion | $0.870 billion | $0.428 billion | $0.296 billion |
| Texas Rangers | $2.05 billion | $0.559 billion | $0.835 billion | $0.416 billion | $0.240 billion |
| Washington Nationals | $2 billion | $0.667 billion | $0.750 billion | $0.394 billion | $0.188 billion |
| Houston Astros | $1.98 billion | $0.538 billion | $0.808 billion | $0.408 billion | $0.225 billion |
| Toronto Blue Jays | $1.78 billion | $0.782 billion | $0.583 billion | $0.242 billion | $0.173 billion |
| Chicago White Sox | $1.76 billion | $0.720 billion | $0.588 billion | $0.288 billion | $0.164 billion |
| Seattle Mariners | $1.7 billion | $0.586 billion | $0.692 billion | $0.250 billion | $0.171 billion |
| San Diego Padres | $1.575 billion | $0.669 billion | $0.505 billion | $0.260 billion | $0.141 billion |
| Detroit Tigers | $1.4 billion | $0.674 billion | $0.435 billion | $0.158 billion | $0.133 billion |
| Minnesota Twins | $1.39 billion | $0.679 billion | $0.407 billion | $0.190 billion | $0.114 billion |
| Colorado Rockies | $1.385 billion | $0.636 billion | $0.434 billion | $0.194 billion | $0.121 billion |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | $1.38 billion | $0.692 billion | $0.436 billion | $0.132 billion | $0.119 billion |
| Baltimore Orioles | $1.375 billion | $0.771 billion | $0.405 billion | $0.090 billion | $0.110 billion |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | $1.32 billion | $0.705 billion | $0.391 billion | $0.113 billion | $0.112 billion |
| Cleveland Guardians | $1.3 billion | $0.638 billion | $0.407 billion | $0.129 billion | $0.126 billion |
| Milwaukee Brewers | $1.28 billion | $0.598 billion | $0.367 billion | $0.207 billion | $0.107 billion |
| Cincinnati Reds | $1.19 billion | $0.568 billion | $0.359 billion | $0.160 billion | $0.102 billion |
| Oakland Athletics | $1.18 billion | $0.658 billion | $0.316 billion | $0.117 billion | $0.089 billion |
| Kansas City Royals | $1.11 billion | $0.573 billion | $0.314 billion | $0.136 billion | $0.088 billion |
| Tampa Bay Rays | $1.1 billion | $0.629 billion | $0.296 billion | $0.090 billion | $0.085 billion |
| Miami Marlins | $0.99 billion | $0.603 billion | $0.234 billion | $0.071 billion | $0.082 billion |
Maury Brown of Forbes claims that the MLB’s 2022 revenue stood at $10.8 billion, which is more than $10.7 billion, earned in 2019, despite a 6% fall in attendance. According to him:
The increase in gross revenues is striking as it comes at a time when game attendance continues to decline. While attendance jumped 42.3% compared to 2021 when the start of the season saw most ballparks at no more than 20% capacity, the 2022 regular season was down nearly 6% compared to 2019, the last season before the pandemic. Major League Baseball has seen attendance drop nine straight seasons when taking 2020 out of the mix. Since the last increase (+1.97% from 2011 to 2012) league attendance has dropped -14%.
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