Anyone with nearly $2 billion lying around can reportedly buy the Miami Marlins from owner Jeffrey Loria.
“The latest buzz among sports bankers is that the Miami Marlins can be had for $1.7 billion,” a report from Mike Ozanian of Forbes said.
Amazingly, $1.7 billion actually seems like a bargain for a few of MLB franchises. Prior to the 2016 season, a Forbes report valued the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs above $2 billion. The New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals came in at $1.65 billion and 1.6 billion, respectively.
Miami, however, is not valued in the same stratosphere as those franchises.
In the same report, the Marlins were valued $675 million, well more than half of what Loria is reportedly looking for. Only Miami’s Sunshine State rivals — the Tampa Bay Rays — were valued at less. Tampa’s estimated worth was $650 million.
It’s certainly worth noting that these estimates are just that, and are often off by a significant amount. For example, the Los Angeles Clippers were valued at $575 million before the Donald Sterling incident in 2014. They ended up selling for more than $2 billion.
But unlike the Clippers in 2014, the Marlins are not a franchise on the rise. In fact, they’ve been completely stagnant for more than a decade. Even the new stadium built in 2012 has brought more frustration than excitement. With that in mind, it’s awfully hard to imagine that Loria’s price tag will come close to being met.