Texas Rangers ownership continues to reap the benefits of the team being the defending World Series champions.
After receiving baseball’s highest award, the team’s valuation increased 8 percent from last year to $2.4 billion, the company said. Forbes‘ The latest ratings for each team in Major League Baseball.
The Rangers declined an interview request. Dallas Morning News. Scott Powers, an assistant professor of sports analytics at Rice University, said franchise value isn’t everything, but it’s very important for any team.
“For an owner who isn’t selling the team, franchise value is a hypothetical,” he said, “but franchise value reflects revenue that is very real and supports any significant investment the Rangers may make in the future.”
This is a big step for teams because their values increased in a year when the rate at which they rose was as slow as a fastball. On average, team valuations increased by 4%. Excluding 2021, the year after the 2020 season was impacted by COVID-19, this is the only time since 2010 that team valuations have increased by 4% or less.
Despite the increase, the Rangers remain in the same position as last year, 12th among MLB’s most valuable teams. Forbes According to the list, the Rangers are tied with the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros for the third-highest growth in franchise value.
However, the Braves (No. 8 on the list) and Astros (No. 11) still have higher franchise value than the Rangers, at $2.8 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively.
“I think winning the World Series certainly helped, and the Rangers have recently invested in players like Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jacob deGrom,” Powers said. “Those investments are supported by the additional revenue they’ve recently acquired.”
Big win for Rangers and players
The Rangers’ valuation has increased 37% since moving to Globe Life Field in 2019. The stadium and surrounding area will soon host the 2024 MLB All-Star Game and various events.
The Rangers, along with the Braves, have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of relocating to state-of-the-art venues in recent years, with Atlanta’s valuation increasing 37% since moving to Truist Park in 2017.
For the Rangers, the win naturally brought wealth to the team. The Rangers players ForbesThe Rangers’ valuation rose after MLB set a new record of $107.8 million in playoff winnings. Each team got at least 0.8% of the total winnings, meaning the Rangers got about $505,000 in playoff winnings.
The Rangers aren’t immune to the growing trend of big player contracts around the league. Mega-deals like pitcher Max Scherzer’s $43 million deal have pushed the team’s player costs up to $237 million in 2023. But that’s offset somewhat by the Rangers’ $425 million in revenue they generate, the ninth-highest in the league.
It’s not all celebration for the champions: The Rangers’ operating profit was the eighth-lowest in the league, at $12 million, compared with $54 million for their stateside rivals, the Houston Astros.
For the Rangers, continuing to win means improving the team’s value and facilities, Rice University’s Powers said.
“Winning and being successful on the baseball field is a cycle where the more you win, the more support you get from your fans, the more revenue you make, the more money you can reinvest in the team and the more you can keep winning,” he said. “The first step is to win, and they’ve done that. Now it’s about nurturing that positive feedback cycle.”
Why are MLB team ratings slowing?
The valuations of 13 teams, including the Boston Red Sox, one of the league’s most popular franchises, remained unchanged from last year.
MLB’s ratings have been slowing because of local media deals and regional sports networks like Bally Sports struggling financially, he said. ForbesThe situation is particularly tough for a team like Rangers, whose games are broadcast by Barry Sports South West.
Bally’s parent company, Diamond Sports Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2023. Along with the company’s gambling ties, deals with other Texas franchises, such as the Dallas Mavericks, are likely to be terminated as well.
However, the Rangers have signed a new agreement with Bally for production and broadcast rights to 153 regular-season games, and it is unlikely the team will walk away from that deal anytime soon.
“We are pleased that the agreement has been finalized and look forward to a very exciting year for the club in partnership with Bally Sports Southwest,” the Rangers said in a February statement, “while also continuing to explore ways to enhance and expand the ways fans can watch Texas Rangers baseball in the future.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies saw the biggest increases in value across the league, each increasing by 14%, with the high growth coming from each team’s robust media rights deals, which sold for more than $2.9 billion each. Forbes.
MLB appears to already be exploring a workaround if Barry doesn’t emerge from bankruptcy court. The league inherited the rights to the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies for the 2024 season. The rights are up for grabs for the 2025 season.
The league is also considering launching a direct-to-consumer streaming service that could air half of each team’s broadcasts for the 2025 season.
