BOSTON -- The New York Yankees have been listed by Forbes as Major League Baseball's most valuable franchise for the 13th straight yearyouth mlb jerseys, as the financial magazine released its annual valuations of the sport on Wednesday. Forbes valued the defending World Series champions as being worth $1.6 billion, $730 million more than the next-most valuable franchise, the Boston Red Sox ($870 million)cheap nfl jerseys. The New York Mets were identified as the sport's third-most valuable franchise, at $858 million. The Yankees declined to comment regarding Forbes' valuations. Forbes said that the average Major League team is now worth $491 million, a two-percent increase from 2009. Major League franchises reported record-high operating income, an average of $17.4 million per team.
The magazine noted that MLB was helped to its best-ever profits in 2009 in part by the opening of two new stadiums in New York, the Yankees' Yankee Stadium and the Mets' Citi Field.
Long-term television deals were credited for boosting league-wide revenues by 1.4 percent, or $79 millionmlb jerseys china. Total player costs dropped $25 million, marking only the second decline since 1995. George M. Steinbrenner's Yankees were estimated to have enjoyed a seven-percent increase in value in 2009, bringing in $441 million in revenues and a $24.9 million profit in operating income. It marked another season of growth for the Yankees, who were valued as the sport's top franchise by Forbes at $362 million in 1998 and $491 million in 1999. The current figures do not include the organization's other holdingswholesale mlb jerseys, which include the YES Network and Legends Hospitality Management. The Red Sox, owned by John Henry and Tom Werner, were reported to have a four-percent value increase in 2009, bringing in $266 million in revenue and $40 million in operating income profit. Fred Wilpon's Mets had a six-percent reduction in value from their 2008 figures, estimated at $268 million in revenues and a $26.2 million profit in operating income. The other teams comprising Forbes' top 10 valuationscustom mlb jerseys, in order, were the Dodgers ($727 million), Cubs ($726 million), Phillies ($537 million), Angels ($521 million), Cardinals ($488 million), Giants ($483 million) and White Sox ($466 million).