CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 10: Fireworks go off as the World Series Championship banner is rasied before the home opening game between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field on April 10, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

It’s never been better to be an owner of a Major League Baseball team. According to the annual valuation rankings from Forbes, the average value of an MLB franchise jumped 19% in the past year thanks to local TV deals, rising profits and MLB’s expanded focus on branching out with new technologies.

It comes as no surprise to learn the New York Yankees are the most valuable franchise in baseball, with a reported value of $3.7 billion. On the west coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the next most valuable franchise with a value of $2.75 billion. The next top names on the list should not be a shock either: Boston Red Sox ($2.7 billion), Chicago Cubs ($2.68 billion), and the San Francisco Giants ($2.65 billion). The New York Mets also cross the $2 billion mark.

Teams in the top markets like New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles will always be toward the top of these rankings, but the noticeable difference in overall average team value seems to be coming from a vested interest in the sport from the smaller markets. For example, the St. Louis Cardinals have a $1 billion TV deal about to start next year through 2032 with FOX Sports Midwest. The newest contract between the Cincinnati Reds and FOX Sports Ohio is worth twice as much as the previous contract. Even franchises in struggling markets like Tampa and Miami are expected to fetch a pretty penny with their new TV deals, and recent success in Pittsburgh and Kansas City has led to surging ratings and the prospect of a strong new TV deal.

Teams are also turning a profit everywhere you look these days, although a handful of teams are still operating in the red. A total of five teams operated at a loss last season (Tigers, Dodgers, Marlins, Orioles, Royals). In spite of that, the league’s overall financial outlook looks promising. As a whole, the league generated revenue of over $9 billion, which was up 7.5 percent from the previous year according to Forbes.

One of the biggest assets MLB has developed is Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which has branched out to develop partnerships with ESPN, the NHL, and even in the world of esports with League of Legends tournaments. MLBAM has also worked to improve the online streaming properties the league has to offer and content delivered on social media. BAMTech, which MLB owns two-thirds of, is worth $3.5 billion. On top of that, MLBAM as a whole is valued at $12 billion.

To those who say baseball is dead, I suppose the sport is being buried in a gold-plated casket.

[Forbes]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.