Yankees first team to top $1 billion in Forbes valuation
April 20, 2006
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees became the first baseball team valued at more than $1 billion in the annual estimates made by Forbes magazine.
The Yankees' value increased 8 percent to $1.026 billion, the magazine estimated in its May 8 issue, which was released Thursday. New York had revenue of $354 million last year before paying $77 million in revenue sharing and $34 million in luxury tax.
Forbes estimated the Yankees had a $50 million operating loss before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization.
The Boston Red Sox were pegged with the second-highest value at $617 million, followed by the New York Mets ($604 million), Los Angeles Dodgers ($482 million), Chicago Cubs ($448 million) and Washington Nationals ($440 million).
Tampa Bay was last among the 30 teams at $209 million.
Forbes valued three NFL teams last September at $1 billion or higher: the Washington Redskins ($1.26 billion), Dallas Cowboys ($1.06 billion) and New England Patriots ($1.04 billion).
Cleveland had the highest estimated operating income at $34.6 million, followed by Houston at $30.2 million, Toronto at $29.7 million, Washington at $27.9 million, Atlanta at $27.6 million.
Other than the Yankees, the only teams with estimated operating losses were the Red Sox ($18.5 million), the Mets ($16.1 million), Florida ($11.9 million) and the Los Angeles Angels ($2.6 million).
Updated on Thursday, Apr 20, 2006 6:31 pm EDT
