Chicago Cubs Now Valued at $2.2 Billion Dollars

The annual Forbes baseball team valuations are out, and it makes for a fun read each year (so long as you remember the proper perspective: these are best available estimates, and the way various financial figures are calculated might be different than you’d expect or use colloquially).

The Chicago Cubs are valued at $2.2 billion, a dramatic increase over last year’s $1.8 billion figure, and an enormous increase over the approximately $845 million purchase price for the Ricketts Family in 2009. At a risky time to make extravagant purchases, the deal proved to be a wise investment. You could say that even purely from a business perspective, as sports team valuations rocketed northward from there, thanks in large part to skyrocketing TV rights contracts. The Cubs haven’t yet cashed in on theirs – their current deals run through 2019 – but it’s coming.

The Ricketts Family didn’t just luck into the gains since 2009, though, as they’ve consistently made savvy decisions that have propped up the valuation in tandem with propping up the success of the organization. A massive renovation and development project is underway at Wrigley Field, additional revenue streams have been opened up and expanded, and, most importantly, the health of the organization has never been stronger.

The Cubs’ $2.2 billion valuation is fifth highest in baseball, according to Forbes, behind only the Yankees ($3.4 billion), Dodgers ($2.5 billion), Red Sox ($2.3 billion), and Giants ($2.25 billion).

With a competitive horizon that stretches for a while, with a new TV deal that should be coming in the next few years, and with ticket revenue set to explode next year (thanks both to increased attendance and a 10% bump in ticket prices), things are looking bright for the owners of the Chicago Cubs.

And, as long as that translates to having the funds available to put a competitive product on the field, Cubs fans can bask in the reflected glow.