Now Forbes values Dodgers at $1.4 billion

This is called a decent spike in assessed valuation. Also excellent timing. If only the Los Angeles housing market could follow suit.

Forbes has come out with its latest evaluations for Major League Baseball teams, and guess which team was credited with a 75% jump in value?

Your very own bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers, valued a year ago by Forbes at $800 million, are now estimated to be worth $1.4 billion. And that’s for the team, Dodger Stadium and the lease to the parking lots.

Seems maybe that $1.5 billion that Frank McCourt was hoping to sell the team for might not be so out of line after all.

Of course, the other theory is Forbes is seriously best-guessing, and in the end, any product is worth what someone is willing to pay. No other team on the list went up more than 30% in value.

The Dodgers currently have five groups remaining in the auction for the team. The Magic Johnson-Stan Kasten group reportedly submitted the current highest bid at $1.6 billion. The other bids are worth at least $1.3 billion.

Wonder how Forbes would have valued the Dodgers a month ago before the bids were known?

Forbes ranks the Dodgers as the second most valuable team in baseball, trailing only the Yankees’ $1.85 billion assessment. And it has a simple, if familiar explanation for the staggering increase in the team’s value:

“The Dodgers current local television deals with Fox’s Prime Ticket and local station CBS affiliate KCAL Channel 9 expire after the 2013 season and the next deal could pay the team a rights fee that averages around $100 million a year, $55 million more than the team took in last season from Fox and KCAL.”

Overall, Forbes said MLB teams increased in value by an average of 16%. The Angels are ranked eighth in value at $656 million. Forbes’ complete list of all MLB teams’ evaluation can be found here.

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