"MLB wants D.C. to lift club values" by Brent Biard

Major League Baseball is looking to the pending sale of the D.C. club, the Washington Nationals, to give a boost to a sagging team market. There are currently two teams on the market and MLB believes the Nationals will be the sale that will boost team values and the price to own a team.

There are eight groups that are bidding on the team. At least one of which has attempted to purchase baseball clubs in the past. To get the value of the sale up MLB has to hope that the team for sale shows a lot of opportunity to the possible owners.

MLB may just be right on the money for their hopes for the sale. The D.C area is a high end city area and has been waiting for a long time to have a team in the city. The fans and investors are “Hungary” to have a team in the city. There a high tide of interest and support right now for the team due to the “newness” factor. The pervious sales, of professional teams, in the area have gone high.

There is a great opportunity to build a program in the heart of a huge multi-metropolitan region of the country. The Nationals will be with in easy traveling distance to cities like New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and Boston. Each of the cites have high baseball interest and natural rivalries will keep attendance up, and sponsors knocking at the owners door.

The Nationals will soon have a new stadium in which to play and that only increases the value for the proposed new owners.

For MLB to make get the price to go up they needed to have the right team in the right place with the right bidders and it seems as if the Nationals have provided it. The sale should go high, sparking additional interest across the country in other teams. This will be the “get in on the action effect” and that will help the selling price around the country. Which will lead to more additional dollars being sent to the other organizations and keep the interest in baseball bouncing back.