In a particularly pin-stripped annual tradition, Forbes has released its rankings of the most valuable franchises in baseball.
Coming in at number 26, your Kansas City Royals.
According to Forbes, the Royals have a current value of $351 million, just two million shy of Cleveland, who come in at #25. Surprisingly, the Royals come in ahead of the Blue Jays (#27, $337 million) despite the Jays playing in a huge market, with all of Canada as a secondary market. The least valuable? That would be the Pirates, at $304 million.
If there's one takeaway, it's that once you get to say, the Marlins at #24, there's not much difference amongst the bottom teams. Basically, there's the Yankees, who are valued at $1.7 billion, then a cluster of big market clubs who are worth $900-$700 million, then a cluster of mid-sized franchises all around $500 million, then the little guys.
The figures are based on revenues, attendance, and market size.
Obviously, it isn't great being #26, but it's a little better than I expected. Not sharing a division with the Yankees and Red Sox also helps tremendously.