by JAMES S. KIM | @james_s_kim
editor@charactermedia.com
The New York Yankees have been baseball’s most valuable team for 17 years, according to Forbes in 2014. The pinstripes were valued at $2.85 billion, while the Los Angeles Dodgers came in second with a value of $2 billion.
But valuations can change quickly in the sports business. A potential deal with South Korean investors for a minority stake in the team places the valuation of the Dodgers at $3 billion, according to unnamed sources with knowledge of the negotiation.
Guggenheim Baseball Management purchased the Dodgers three years ago from Frank McCourt for a little over $2 billion in cash ($2.3 billion including the surrounding real estate). The recent negotiations with the South Korean investors have brought up some differing numbers, however. The Korea Joongang Daily reported in January that the South Korean group was looking into buying 20 percent of the team for about $370 million, which would value the team at $1.85 billion. But one of the partners on the Dodgers told the Los Angeles Times in December 2012 that Guggenheim valued the team at $3 billion.
Forbes pointed out that the $3 billion valuation was probably more accurate, based on a recent sale of a small stake in the Chicago Cubs that brought the team’s value up to $1.8 billion from the $1.2 billion Forbes had estimated a year ago.
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