Today is the 50th anniversary of the acquisition of the New York Yankees by an investor group that had, among others, George Steinbrenner.
That happened in 1973, nine years after the Yanks’ last World Series appearance.
At the time, the franchise was worth $10 million.
Now, it’s one of the most valuable sports-related businesses in the world, not just in America.
“50 years ago today, the New York Yankees were sold for $10 million. Today, they are worth more than $6 billion,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
If you have $6 billion to spare, you can go ahead and make a bid for the Bronx Bombers.
After Steinbrenner took over, they returned to the Fall Classic in 1976 but lost.
In the two subsequent seasons, 1977 and 1978, the Yankees won it all.
After another World Series appearance in 1981, the Yanks were relatively quiet until the mid-90s.
In 1996, they started winning again and took home four titles in five seasons, re-building the brand and growing in popularity with that generation of fans.
Wins brought more ticket sales, merch sales, and overall popularity.
The “Evil Empire” was at his best in the nineties and 2000s, and has never stopped growing ever since despite the fact they haven’t lifted a World Series trophy since 2009.
The Yankees are the most successful and popular franchise in MLB, and that means it becomes more valuable by the minute.
It’s fun to think how times change: there is a huge gap between $10 million and $6 billion.
Inflation obviously plays a big role, but no other baseball franchise has grown more than the Yankees since that time.
More must-reads: