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Bloomberg News Franchise Valuations: Nationals Worth $850M

Major League Baseball purchased the Montreal Expos for $120M in 2002 and sold them for $450M in 2004 and the Lerner Family that bought the Washington Nationals now owns, according to Bloomberg News, a franchise worth $850M.

By Patrick Reddington
Rob Carr

Major League Baseball paid owner Jeffrey Loria $120M for the Montreal Expos in 2002 and after the 2004 season, moved the franchise to the nation's capital, bringing baseball back to Washington, D.C. for the third time, but the first time in 33 years following the Washington Senators' departure for Texas in 1971.

The Lerner Family, led by D.C.-born real estate developer Theodore N. "Ted" Lerner, purchased the Nationals from MLB for $450M in July of 2006, and in 2008 opened Nationals Park. According to Bloomberg's Franchise Valuations, published today (infographic HERE), the franchise is currently worth a total value of $850M and a team value of $637M.

As Washington Post reporterJames Wagner noted in a post on Bloomberg's report, Forbes listed the Nationals' value at $631M last March, which had them ranked 14th overall in MLB. At $850M, the Nats are the 13th most valuable franchise in the majors according to Bloomberg News and they're ranked 13th in team value as well.

As the accompanying text with the infographic published today explained, "Bloomberg News spent nine months compiling and analyzing the numbers behind the business, and determined that MLB's 30 teams are worth about 35 percent more on average."

In breaking down the numbers, Bloomberg reported that the Nationals ranked 14th in the majors with 2.7M in attendance in 2013 and 9th in MLB in with $85M in Gate Receipts, 12th in Concessions with $20M and 8th in Major League Baseball with $6M in Parking.

Check out the rest of the information on the Nationals and every major league team and read the accompanying article through the link below:

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