In the battle of the brands, the Dodgers are strong but Yankees reign supreme

The World Series betting odds might be in the Dodgers’ favor, but when it comes to the battle of the brands, the Yankees have a leg up (sorry, Angelenos).

The Yankees are the highest-valued team in Major League Baseball with a valuation of $7.6 billion and its brand isvalued at an estimated $1.2 billion, according to an analysis this year from Forbes. The Dodgers are the runner-up, with a $5.5-billion valuation and $1.1-billion brand.

Underscoring and helping to drive the Yankees’ domination on retail shelves and airwaves has been the proliferation of the team’s iconic logo in the cultural zeitgeist, from Jay-Z’s ball cap to a partnership with Gucci. Hollywood frequently gives the franchise free product placement putting the white-on-navy insignia on characters in movies and television shows, furthering its cultural reach. (The Yankees’ logo was inspired by an interlocking “N” and “Y” design from Tiffany’s in 1877.)

“The Yankees have this status where they’ve transcended baseball,” said Jim Andrews, a Northwestern University sports marketing professor who founded the sports marketing consultancy A-Mark Partnership Strategies. “You see people wearing that logo all around the world.”

But don’t count out the Dodgers just yet. The signing of Japanese baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani last year to a 10-year, $700-million contract ignited fan interest around the world, particularly in the baseball-obsessed market of Japan.

That energized fan base has translated into tourism dollars for the city of Los Angeles, as Japanese tourists have descended upon the city — and on Little Tokyo — to watch the Dodgers and Ohtani throughout the season.

Small businesses in Little Tokyo have displayed Dodgers decorations in their windows, and blue-clad visitors, often wearing Ohtani shirts or jerseys, frequently wander the streets. A massive mural of Ohtani, painted by artist Robert Vargas, looms over 1st Street on the side of the Miyako Hotel.

“In terms of the internationalization ... they are beating the Yankees right now in the Japanese market through Shohei Ohtani,” said Thilo Kunkel, professor at Temple University’s school of sport, tourism and hospitality management. The Dodgers are “using international superstars to build their team brand, and they’ve certainly done really well.”

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Though the Dodgers are bested by the Yankees in total number of social media followers (12.9 million to 17.6 million), L.A.’s fans engage with the team more on social media with the Dodgers racking up the most likes, shares, re-posts, comments and video views of any team in MLB, according to data from business intelligence firm KORE, which was recently acquired by global marketing agency Two Circles. The 2.3 million new social media followers the Dodgers added this season was tops in the league as well, KORE figures show.

“The Dodgers really are a story of growth,” said Daniel Foltz, corporate partnerships strategy and data analyst at KORE. “It would have been very easy for them to sign Shohei, get the gift of having the most unique player in baseball, and then just cruise. They have instead done a great job this year of building on it, not letting any of the momentum go to waste.”

There’s history between these two teams. The Dodgers and Yankees have previously met 11 times in the World Series, most recently in 1981, when the Dodgers emerged as champions.

This year’s matchup presents a huge opportunity not only for the teams to boost their brands, but also for Major League Baseball to build on the increased ratings and fan interest it has won in recent years, said Andrews of Northwestern.

The league’s gains have been helped by the star power of players such as Ohtani and Yankees star Aaron Judge, as well as additions such as the introduction of the pitch clock, which has quickened the pace of games.

Though media rights have already been settled for these games, viewership numbers for a matchup like this could give either team more negotiating power for future media rights deals, Kunkel said.

The Yankees broadcast their regular season games through their team-owned Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, also known as YES, which is the most-watched regional sports network in the U.S as of last year. (Amazon and Sinclair Broadcast Group also have minority stakes in the network.)

The Dodgers own SportsNetLA, which is distributed by Charter Communications (which operates the Spectrum brand), as part of an $8.35-billion deal struck more than a decade ago. Though non-subscribers were shut out from Dodgers games for years, Spectrum reached a deal in 2020 to broadcast games on DirecTV and U-Verse (though other pay-TV operators, such as Cox, are still excluded).

Having a recognizable and valuable brand is a huge advantage in the sports world, Andrews said.

“The bigger the brand, the more merchandise you’re selling and the more money you’re making,” he said. “If you can do that, it gives you that baseline revenue to build your business off of.”

The Yankees generated $679 million in revenue in 2023, while the Dodgers raked in $549 million, according to Forbes’ calculations.

This World Series not only represents a battle between two of the league’s storied and successful franchises, but also the nation’s two top media markets — L.A. and New York — which adds to the brand strength of those franchises, said Bryan Harris, founder and chief executive of 25 Hits, a marketing communications firm with sports expertise.

It’s part of how these two brands have transcended the sports sphere and made their way into fashion, lifestyle and pop culture, particularly internationally.

“The baseball cap is, if anything, the American uniform,” said John Thorn, the official MLB historian since 2011. “New York and L.A. have come to symbolize America in distant lands. To be a media capital or a cultural capital is to become a fashion capital.”