Billion Dollar Franchise?

1 New York Yankees - $1,200,000
2 New York Mets - $736,000
3 Boston Red Sox - $724,000
4 Los Angeles Dodgers - $632,000
5 Chicago Cubs - $592,000

The Mets are now the second most valuable baseball team trailing only the New York Yankees and post $100+ million gains in franchise value two seasons in a row. With two more great seasons of baseball and a new stadium in 2009, the Mets should blast through the $1 billion threshold. The Mets stand to gain a substantial amount of value from the new stadium alone and if they can manage to win a World Series and increase attendence closer to 4,000,000 fans through the gates, they could significantly close the gap with the Yankees, though not overtake them. The thing about the Mets is that they still have a lot of growing room while the Yankees growth should be slower.



The Mets have tons of growth potential in terms of team value while a team like the Red Sox, who are just coming off a World Series win in '04, have no room to increase revenues via attendance and no hope for new stadium. No one else is all that close to the Mets so both New York teams are going to be far and away more valuable in terms of franchise worth than any other team. In this market with their ability to make money, Wilpon is making a pretty penny on this team that he acquired sole ownership of in 2002 from Nelson Doubleday for $391.

Of course, the $1 billion mark is ho-hum for football teams. Five teams top that mark with another eight topping the $900 million mark. What is really interesting is how the first New York (but really New Jersey) team stops in at fifteenth!!!! That is just nuts. It really just goes to show you the disparity between baseball and football. I do understand why Football is viable in any market, but since I'm in baseball mode all the time, seeing an expansion team like the Texans and markets like Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Kansas City over a New York team is just nuts and it really has little to do with team performance. The Giants do however have a new stadium on the horizon which could push them up to the $1 billion mark by the time it is completed, but as of now, the Mets are closing ground on them.

1 Washington Redskins - $1,423,000
2 New England Patriots - $1,176,000
3 Dallas Cowboys - $1,173,000
4 Houston Texans - $1,043,000
5 Philadelphia Eagles - $1,024,000
6 Denver Broncos - $975,000
7 Cleveland Browns - $970,000
8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - $955,000
9 Baltimore Ravens - $946,000
10 Chicago Bears - $945,000
11 Carolina Panthers - $936,000
12 Miami Dolphins - $912,000
13 Green Bay Packers- $911,000
14 Kansas City Chiefs - $894,000
15 New York Giants - $890,000
16 Seattle Seahawks- $888,000
17 Tennessee Titans - $886,000
18 Pittsburgh Steelers - $880,000
19 New York Jets - $876,000
20 St Louis Rams - $841,000
21 Detroit Lions - $839,000
22 Indianapolis Colts - $837,000
23 Cincinnati Bengals- $825,000
24 Arizona Cardinals - $789,000
25 Buffalo Bills - $756,000
26 Jacksonville Jaguars - $744,000
27 New Orleans Saints - $738,000
28 Oakland Raiders - $736,000
29 San Francisco 49ers - $734,000
30 San Diego Chargers - $731,000
31 Atlanta Falcons - $730,000
32 Minnesota Vikings - $720,000

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Jason Stark weighs in on Josh Hamilton in his latest chat:

Steve (Columbus): Is Josh Hamilton this spring's second best story aside from A-Rod's recent resurgence?

SportsNation Jayson Stark: I'm on record as saying Josh Hamilton is the best story in baseball, and I'm sticking to it. ARod has reconfigured his swing, Josh Hamilton has reconfigured his LIFE. He's been amazing. When he told me the story this spring of how he wore his uniform home from a game, walked into a Dairy Queen wearing it and then spread it out on the bed when he got home just to look at it, I had an urge to call Hollywood immediately. He's a walking argument for why people deserve second chances in life. And I can't believe all the fans who keep writing and blogging about how awful this is. Show some faith in the human spirit, gang.

...and Dave wins douchebag of the year...

Dave (gainesville): Why is Josh Hamilton a great story? You're not supposed to do drugs, especially when you have a lot of talent and a career and something to work for. This story is a joke.

SportsNation Jayson Stark: OK, I'm just going to post one of these. But I want to respond to folks like you. Do you know anything about this guy's story? He was the all-American boy growing up, literally. Helped rake the infield. Ran into the stands and kissed his grandmother. Loyal son. Great kid. Do I condone a guy who falls into a drug culture and wastes three years of his life? Heck, no. That's absurd. But do I recognize when a guy like that takes responsibility for changing his life, demands that we all hold him accountable for what he's done and everything he's going to do, and makes something of himself, we should be applauding, not just throwing "druggie" labels at him. He can be an inspiration to every kid who screwed up his life like that and thought there was no escape. Don't we WANT people in our world to follow his current example? This is a great story, Dave. And you're missing it.

We forgive people for their past transgressions. People are allowed to make mistakes and just because they do make them, does not mean they are bad people. I give credit to Stark for even answering this guy back because it did not even warrant a response.

Yes, I ignored the fact that the Mets played tonight.