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. Â With that in mind, it’s awfully hard to imagine that Loria’s price tag will come close to being met.