Rovell: Forbes: MLB teams’ worth up 23%

In its report, Forbes, which has been tracking the league’s finances since 1998, revealed that the money that all teams made from the $450 million sale of the Montreal Expos in 2006 was invested in hedge funds are now worth more than $1 billion.

“The value of a team used to be about a team itself,” Forbes executive editor Michael Ozanian said in a phone interview with ESPN.com. “Then it shifted to the stadium value and then to the television deals and now it’s more about what’s not on the field at all.”

Each team also owns an equal share in MLB Advanced Media, which among other things, has generated massive revenue from its gameday video and audio app MLB At Bat, which has been the highest grossing sports app in the Apple store on the iPhone and iPad for four consecutive years. MLB Advanced Media generates more than $600 million in revenue and Forbes conservatively values the subsidiary at $6 billion.

Combine those investments with the $12.4 billion in national television revenue the clubs will receive thanks to new deals with Fox, Turner and ESPN, that run through the 2021 season, and it’s easy to see why it’s a great time to be a Major League Baseball owner.

The New York Yankees are the most valuable team for the 16th straight year. Forbes tabs the team’s value at $2.3 billion, surpassing the Dallas Cowboys($2.1 billion) for the title of the most valuable franchise in North America. The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the No. 2 spot at $1.5 billion.

Ozanian said that the $2.1 billion price that Guggenheim Partners paid for the team looks to be too steep since he believes at least $1 billion of the team’s new television deal, which has been announced by not yet submitted to Major League Baseball, will go towards revenue sharing.

John Henry opens up | Boston Herald

Some interesting stuff including this exchange.

Q. You have repeatedly stated that the Red Sox are not for sale. But let’s turn the question around: Not counting casual conversations that you, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino have had with would-be owners, has a group approached you with a serious offer to buy the team? That is, one that raised eyebrows?

A. No. What I have had since these rumors first surfaced is a great number of investment bankers having called and a few people who reiterated what I’ve heard for a decade: “If you ever decide to sell, please call me.” These rumors were baseless. I’ve not had one partner in 11 years suggest thinking about selling the Red Sox, even though they haven’t received dividends. There’s a great, abiding love among the partners for the Sox. And Tom, Larry and I still look forward to driving into Fenway’s parking lot every day as much as we did at the beginning. Who wouldn’t want to work there? It’s a privilege.