MLB

Who owns MLB?
MLB is owned collectively by its 30 member club owners through the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. Each team is independently owned, but they collectively govern the league. Rob Manfred serves as Commissioner, appointed by the club owners in January 2015.

What is MLB's annual revenue?
MLB generated approximately $13.1 billion in total revenue across its 30 clubs in 2025, up 3% from the prior year. The average team generated $426 million in revenue. The Los Angeles Dodgers alone generated $1.1 billion in gross revenue, becoming only the third sports team globally to exceed $1 billion in annual revenue.

Who won the 2025 World Series?
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2025 World Series, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games. The Dodgers became the first MLB franchise to win back-to-back championships since 2000. Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named World Series MVP. The series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, the most-watched World Series since 2017.

What is MLB's media rights situation?
MLB receives approximately $2 billion annually from national media rights deals with Fox ($729 million), ESPN ($550 million), Turner Sports ($470 million), NBC ($200 million), and Netflix ($50 million) covering the 2026-2028 seasons. The league aims to centralize all 30 teams' local rights by 2028 to sell a national streaming package, which Braves owner Terry McGuirk estimated could be worth $100 billion over 11 years.

Will there be an MLB lockout in 2026?
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2026 season. MLBPA Interim Executive Director Bruce Meyer told ESPN in early 2026 that a lockout is "all but guaranteed." MLB owners are seeking a salary cap for the first time, which the players' union has historically resisted. The labor uncertainty comes as MLB prepares for major media rights negotiations for packages starting in 2029.

What is the most valuable MLB team?
The New York Yankees are the most valuable MLB franchise at $9.4 billion as of 2026, according to Sportico. The Los Angeles Dodgers rank second at $9.05 billion, having narrowed the gap from 46% in 2021 to just 4%. The average MLB team is worth $3.17 billion, up 12% year-over-year.

The roots of Major League Baseball trace back to the founding of the National League in 1876, which established the first professional baseball league with a formal structure, schedule, and rules. The American League was founded in 1901 by Ban Johnson, who elevated the minor Western League to major league status and declared it a competitor to the National League.

The two leagues initially competed for players and fans, but in 1903 they signed the National Agreement, establishing a framework for coexistence and creating what would become modern Major League Baseball. The first modern World Series was played in 1903, with the Boston Americans defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The early 20th century established baseball as America's national pastime. Legendary players including Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Babe Ruth became national celebrities. The 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of intentionally losing the World Series, led to the establishment of the Commissioner's Office in 1920. Kenesaw Mountain Landis became the first Commissioner and served until 1944.

Babe Ruth's home run hitting transformed the game in the 1920s, and the New York Yankees became the dominant team of the era. The Great Depression challenged baseball economically but the sport endured, and the introduction of night games in 1935 expanded the fan base.

Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947, when he debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson's integration of baseball was a landmark moment in American civil rights history, and April 15 is now celebrated as Jackie Robinson Day across MLB.

Television transformed baseball in the 1950s and 1960s, bringing games to national audiences. The league expanded geographically, moving teams from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1958 and adding expansion teams in subsequent decades. MLB grew from 16 teams in 1960 to 30 teams by 1998.

The free agency era began in 1975 following the Messersmith-McNally arbitration decision, which struck down the reserve clause that had bound players to their teams indefinitely. Free agency dramatically increased player salaries and changed the economics of baseball.

MLB faced significant challenges in the 1990s, including the 1994-95 players' strike that cancelled the World Series for the first time since 1904. The strike damaged fan attendance and trust, but the sport recovered in the late 1990s, partly driven by the home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998.

The steroid era of the 1990s and 2000s tainted many of baseball's statistical achievements, leading to the Mitchell Report in 2007 and enhanced drug testing programs. Several prominent players, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez, faced scrutiny over performance-enhancing drug use.

Rob Manfred became Commissioner in January 2015, succeeding Bud Selig. Manfred has implemented significant rule changes aimed at improving the pace of play, including the pitch clock (introduced in 2023), larger bases, and limits on defensive shifts. The 2023 rule changes reduced average game time by approximately 26 minutes, with the 2024 season posting the best average game time (2 hours, 36 minutes) since 1984.

The 2024 World Series was won by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the New York Yankees. The Dodgers' roster featured Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the team in December 2023, the largest contract in professional sports history. Ohtani won the National League MVP in both 2024 and 2025, leading the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series titles.

The 2025 World Series saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games, with pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto named World Series MVP. The series featured an 18-inning Game 3, the longest World Series game in history, and a dramatic Game 7 that went 11 innings. The series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, the most-watched World Series since 2017.

MLB does not publish a standalone sustainability report aligned with GRI or SASB standards. Individual teams have implemented various environmental initiatives at their ballparks, including solar panels, waste reduction programs, and water conservation measures, but these are not coordinated at the league level.

The league has supported community programs through MLB Charities, focusing on youth baseball participation, particularly in underserved communities. The RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program operates in multiple cities to promote youth baseball and softball.

MLB has faced several significant controversies:

The Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, revealed in 2019, found that the Astros had used electronic means to steal opposing catchers' signs during their 2017 World Series championship season. Commissioner Manfred suspended the Astros' manager and general manager and fined the team $5 million, but did not strip the team of its championship or punish individual players, a decision that generated significant criticism from players and fans across the league.

The steroid era of the 1990s and 2000s continues to affect the sport, with several players who used performance-enhancing drugs excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame by voters. Barry Bonds, the all-time home run leader, and Roger Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers in history, have been denied Hall of Fame entry by baseball writers.

MLB's antitrust exemption, a unique legal status granted by the Supreme Court in 1922 and reaffirmed in subsequent decisions, has been a subject of ongoing debate. The exemption allows MLB to operate in ways that would be prohibited for other businesses under antitrust law, including restricting franchise relocation and controlling minor league baseball.

The looming CBA expiration in 2026 presents a significant risk. MLB owners have never successfully implemented a salary cap, and the MLBPA has indicated a lockout is likely. A work stoppage would damage the league's momentum heading into critical media rights negotiations. The 1994-95 players' strike, which cancelled the World Series, remains a cautionary tale for both sides.

The collapse of regional sports networks has created financial pressure on smaller-market teams. Teams that have moved under MLB's direct distribution umbrella have taken revenue hits, with some clubs seeing local media revenue reduced by 25% or more. This has widened the revenue gap between large and small market teams, potentially undermining competitive balance.