Forbes placed the team value of the Pittsburgh Pirates at $1.32 billion again in its annual rankings of baseball’s most valuable teams, which ranks 24th out of 30 major league franchises.
Despite the Pirates enduring a second consecutive 100-loss season, Forbes estimated they made $51.5 million in operating income in 2022, which ranks eighth among MLB teams, and $41 million in gate receipts.
The Pirates’ projected payroll for the 2023 season, per Cot’s Contracts, is $71,862,500. That’s an increase of $16.1 million from last season, yet it still ranks 27th among MLB teams. The Pirates are one of three teams, along with the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros, that AT&T SportsNet reportedly told to reclaim its broadcast rights by March 31 or it would file for bankruptcy.
Only the Cleveland Guardians, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins had lower team values than the Pirates.
The New York Yankees continued to rank first in value at $7.1 billion, an increase of 18% from 2022. No other team has ranked higher than the Yankees since Forbes started publishing the list in December 1998.