How much are the Toronto Blue Jays worth?

Toronto Blue Jays SS Jose Reyes with Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria during a press conference at the 2011 MLB winter meetings at Hilton Anatole. Credit: USA TODAY Sports

How much are the Toronto Blue Jays worth? According to a report released yesterday by Bloomberg, which estimated the value all 30 MLB organizations, the answer is nearly $1 billion.

How does Bloomberg come up with such a figure? The Blue Jays were ranked as the 12th most valuable organization in baseball with a total value of $950 million. However by using team value alone, they are actually ranked 17th at $537 million. What makes up the difference? Bloomberg also factors “Regional Sports Network” and “Related Business” and ranked the Jays fifth in both categories at $236 million and $35 million respectively.

Only the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles have more valuable regional sports networks. I should note that according to the article the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal with Fox is set to expire and currently have no listed value under this category but there has been a proposal for team owners to a create new regional sports network.

It is interesting that the Jays are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to team revenue. It’s tough to say how accurate these numbers are as I would have expected more than $44 million in gate receipts (23rd) from a team that had the 14th highest attendance at 2.5 million. I have no idea how these totals are compiled but $44 million divided by 2.5 million people means that the average ticket price would have been only $17.60? Obviously there are a number of factors such as season ticket packages and other promotions that lower the revenue generated per person but the number still seems low to me. Like I said I’m probably calculating it wrong and we will probably never know for sure – team financial information is usually kept private.

Rogers Communications purchased the Toronto Blue Jays for $160 million in 2000.

Regardless, in my opinion the current and potential value of the Toronto Blue Jays’ regional sports network is a good sign for fans. You would think it would be in the team owners’ best interest to continue to spend in order to maximize the earning potential of the network. So let’s get this World Series over and done with and let the offseason begin!