Who says baseball is just fun and games? These days America's past time seems to be all about dollars and cents. Team values increased an average of 1% over the past year, to $482 million, an all-time high, according to Forbes' 2009 Major League baseball valuation list. Sitting on top of that list No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, are the New York Yankees and New York Mets.
The Yanks finished No. 1 for the 12th year in a row with a valuation of $1.5 billion, up 15% from the $1.3 billion in 2008. Meanwhile, their cross-town cousins Mets are valued $912 million, up 13% from $824 million in 2008. The Yanks and Mets valuations were buoyed by the opening of new stadiums this season, despite having difficulty selling their higher-priced seats. The Mets are expected to show a profit of $23.5 million aided by a controversial naming rights deal with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), which will bring in $20 million annually for the next 20 years.
Overall, baseball has shown itself to be a great investment with only two of the 30 teams expected to report an operating loss in 2009. Maybe that's why the Chicago Cubs, which is expected to close its sale in May, saw strong demand for the team with at least three high-profile bids. - Gerald Magpily
See Forbes MLB valuation list
See Dealscape: Yankees, Mets feel the credit crunch
See Dealscape: Those Damn Yankees
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