Forbes values Braves at $1.5 billion

Forbes released its annual valuations of Major League Baseball teams on Tuesday and the Atlanta Braves found themselves 12th on the list of 30 ball clubs with an estimated current value of $1.5 billion.

This mark is $320 million better than the estimated $1.18 billion Forbes valued the Braves at in 2016.

The first and most obvious factor in the increase of value is the Braves’ movement into SunTrust Park, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution stated:

In addition to the new park, the development of The Battery Atlanta around the stadium without a doubt played a large role in the evaluation. Another Forbes article discusses Atlanta’s plan to build restaurants and stores around the stadium for the ultimate entertainment center and says that while this may won’t directly benefit the Braves with additional revenue, it will impact the owners positively.

Perhaps even better news for baseball fans is that the MLB as a whole appears to be financially healthy. As Sporting News pointed out, Forbes has franchise worth increasing across all of Major League Baseball with the average worth of a team being $1.54 billion - a 19 percent increase from 2016.

The top teams of on Forbes’ list come with little to no surprise as the New York Yankees took the top spot at $3.7 billion, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.75 billion), Boston Red Sox ($2.7 billion), and reigning World Series champion Chicago Cubs ($2.675 billion).

The Braves placed fourth out of five teams in the National League East behind the New York Mets (Ranked #6 at $2 billion), Philadelphia Phillies (Ranked #9 at $1.65 billion) and Washington Nationals (Ranked #10 at $1.6 billion). The Miami Marlins round out the NL East at the #25 spot with an estimated worth of $940 million.