Report: Chicago Cubs Worth One Billion Dollars

Wrigley Field
(photo: Major League Baseball)

Big-league baseball's opening games are less than two weeks away. Among the teams that don't have a realistic chance of winning the World Series is the Chicago Cubs. That's hardly news, as the Cubbies have been a bad team more often than not. Usually, fans don't back a loser. The Cubs are a very notable exception to that dictum. Games at Wrigley Field, the Cubs' home ball park, are typically standing-room only affairs. The club has a national following that almost certainly loves despair. Cub merchandise sells steadily.

Just how lucrative is the Cub franchise? The Chicago Tribune cited a recent Forbes article which claimed Chicago's National League team was worth $1 billion. That's fourth highest on the MLB value list, behind the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox. The piece also asserted that the Cubs were the majors' most profitable enterprise, although that might not be to the Cub management's credit. Baseball's accounting might be even more creative than Hollywood's bookkeeping. However, the Cubs' record over the years doesn't lie: the team stinks.