Yankees extend reign as MLB's most valuable team: Forbes

(Reuters) - The New York Yankees are Major League Baseball's most valuable team for a 17th consecutive year, coming in at more than triple the league's average value, according to a survey released by Forbes on Wednesday. The 27-time World Series champion Yankees were valued at $2.5 billion, a nine percent jump from last year and comfortably above the second ranked Los Angeles Dodgers, whose value rose 24 percent to $2 billion due largely to a new television deal. The Yankees, who last year missed the playoffs for only the second time since 1994 and saw their revenue dip 2 percent to an MLB-high $461 million, have topped the list since Forbes began tracking MLB team valuations in 1998. The 2013 World Series champion Boston Red Sox ($1.5 billion), Chicago Cubs ($1.2 billion) and San Francisco Giants ($1 billion) rounded out the top five. It marked the first time five MLB teams were worth at least $1 billion. The average MLB team is now worth $811 million, up nine percent from last year, which Forbes attributed to television deals. For the complete list visit (www.forbes.com/mlb). (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Julian Linden)