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Mark Attanasio bought the Brewers for $223 million in 2005. Ten years later, it seems he has made a pretty solid investment.
The latest estimates from Forbes now have the Brewers' franchise valued at $875 million, the 21st most-valuable team in Major League Baseball despite being the smallest market in the league. The average value of an MLB team has risen to $1.2 billion.
Because Forbes uses slideshows and slideshows are the worst thing ever, here's the full list of Franchise values. Bet you can't guess who's number one.
| Team | Estimated Value | Market Size Rank |
| Yankees | $3.2 billion | 1 |
| Dodgers | $2.4 billion | 3 |
| Red Sox | $2.1 billion | 9 |
| Giants | $2 billion | 10 |
| Cubs | $1.8 billion | 5 |
| Cardinals | $1.4 billion | 24 |
| Mets | $1.35 billion | 1 |
| Angels | $1.3 billion | 3 |
| Nationals | $1.28 billion | 7 |
| Phillies | $1.25 billion | 13 |
| Rangers | $1.22 billion | 12 |
| Braves | $1.15 billion | 15 |
| Tigers | $1.125 billion | 17 |
| Mariners | $1.1 billion | 19 |
| Orioles | $1 billion | 7 |
| White Sox | $975 million | 5 |
| Pirates | $900 million | 27 |
| Twins | $895 million | 21 |
| Padres | $890 million | 22 |
| Reds | $885 million | 28 |
| Brewers | $875 million | 30 |
| Blue Jays | $870 million | 18 |
| Rockies | $855 million | 22 |
| Diamondbacks | $840 million | 19 |
| Indians | $825 million | 24 |
| Astros | $800 million | 14 |
| Athletics | $725 million | 10 |
| Royals | $700 million | 29 |
| Marlins | $650 million | 15 |
| Rays | $625 million | 26 |
Despite the Brewers' small market size, the support they receive from fans is certainly a large factor in this valuation, along with the fact the team has consistently posted winning seasons over the past several years. The Brewers have fallen below 11th in average home attendance just once since the 2008 season, when they made the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.
For Attanasio, however, that valuation for the Brewers means he has seen over $650 million in additional from purchasing the team to now. It's not as simple as that, I'm sure, and I might not be wording this in the right financial way or whatever, but here's the non-technical point I'm trying to make: Mark Attanasio seems to have made a pretty swell investment and the team's value doesn't seem like it will go down anytime soon.
Of course, the Brewers will never reach the level of the Yankees or Dodgers or the other big-wigs, probably. The Cardinals show that market size isn't necessarily a limiting factor to a team jumping higher in the list, which gives some credence to the thought that the Brewers could climb in this list, but Milwaukee doesn't have the history, the recent success, or the future success the Cardinals figure to have.
On the reverse side, teams like the Astros -- playing in the fourth-largest city in the US -- demonstrate the effect consistent losing and the lack of a solid TV contract can have. The Brewers' television contract is certainly not among the highest valued deals, but it's better than the situation Houston has been in, to be sure.
Overall, the Brewers are in a pretty good place as far as franchise value goes. That probably doesn't mean a ton to fans necessarily, since that's more the business side of things, but it means the organization is in a stable, successful place. That bodes well both on and off the field, and is at least nice to see.