If looking at Forbes' most valuable MLB teams for 2022, the Astros seem to be doing pretty, pretty well with how valuable the franchise is.
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The publication's annual list reports the 'Stros and owner Jim Crane saw a 14% increase in their value to $2.25 billion. That's no chump change, but is it among the highest values in baseball?
The video above is from February 2023.
Not quite. The 'Stros just missed the top 10, which was reserved for teams like the top-ranked New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox. The Yanks in particular sit on a $7.1 billion valuation, about $2.2 billion more than the second-ranked club, LA Dodgers.
The Astros placed 11th behind the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals, who were eighth, ninth, and 10th, respectively.
'Stros fans may find some consolation in being valued more than the Texas Rangers, which ranked 12th, just $25 million fewer than their American League West rivals.
What drove the Astros' rising value? Forbes didn't specifically break it down for Houston's MLB franchise, but across the board, most of the revenue collected among all 30 teams accounted for tickets, including postseason and spring training, which saw a 64% jump last year.
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So, 'Stros fans who notice the rising costs of seeing Jeremy Peña and company, you're right.
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The Forbes ranking doesn't ignore MLB's issues with a couple of regional sports TV networks bailing out of the business or declaring bankruptcy altogether, which have put coverage for a number of teams in limbo.
AT&T SportsNet Southwest, which launched under a different identity in 2012, is reportedly negotiating the transfer of coverage rights back to its main content tenants, the Astros and the NBA's Rockets, after its parent company decided to drop its RSNs.
Beyond the acquisitions portion of the Astros' TV business, Forbes reports the club received $73 million from AT&T SportsNet Southwest last season. And to prove that the team's World Series-winning season was can't miss, Forbes also reports Astros game coverage had the fifth-most watched average household viewership in all of baseball at about 109,000 viewers per game.
A full list of the rankings is on the Forbes website.
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