NEWSLETTER
Last year around this time, Sportico valued the Chicago Cubs at $4.43 billion, which was a bit higher than the Forbes valuation at the time ($3.8 billion), and which was a 7% bump from the year prior.
This year, the Cubs are in for another bump, with Sportico raising its estimate another 6% to $4.69 billion. That makes the Cubs the 4th most valuable franchise in baseball, and note that the valuation includes equity stakes in RSNs like Marquee:
By valuation, you can see that the New York Yankees remain in a tier entirely to themselves, with the Cubs bundled together with – but at the back of – the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. The San Francisco Giants are a bit on an island there between that group, and then the more crowded group that follows.
As far as all U.S. sports franchises go, the Cubs are not in the top ten, according to Sportico:
In case you’re wondering what a recent title run can do for an organization, the Houston Astros valuation climbed 8% this year, jumping them three spots in the standings, so to speak. The Atlanta Braves, whose value increased 7% last year, were up another 8% this year.
One last thing to point out, with the caveat that official numbers are closely guarded by MLB so there is sometimes some estimating going on, is that the Cubs’ revenue in 2022 was reportedly in the same range as the Red Sox, but far below that of the Dodgers and Yankees:
That said, Sportico reports that Cubs revenue was up some $60 million from 2021 to 2022, which my eyeballing indicates is tracking with most large-market MLB teams (remember, 2021 attendance was still impacted by the pandemic). And that $500 million figure, if accurate, is upwards of $100 million more than – for one relevant example – the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs *should* still have a tremendous spending advantage in the NL Central, if and when they want to use it …
