When Yankee Stadium hosted Game 1 of the ALCS this month, a fan went viral for bringing a novelty check made out to Juan Soto for $600 million.
Two weeks later, after Soto’s game-winning home run in ALCS Game 5 clinched the American League pennant, the fan returned to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series, that time with a check reading $650 million.
It remains to be seen just how high the bidding will go for Soto, who is expected to command a historic contract during his much-discussed free agency this offseason.
But the Yankees will enter the bidding war with some extra income.
The Yankees’ trip to the World Series was good for business. While the exact revenue won’t be known for some time, the sports business outlet Sportico estimated before Game 1 that a World Series run would generate about $70 million in ticket and luxury suite sales alone.
Sportico’s projection was based on the Yankees’ bond document disclosures dating back to 1997.
Not included in that estimate was the revenue the Yankees will make from selling $6.99 hot dogs, $16.29 premium beers, $64.99 World Series hats or $119.99 World Series hoodies to sellout crowds of around 49,000 fans during Games 3, 4 and 5.
At face value, World Series tickets at Yankee Stadium this year ranged from $151 to $2,115.
By winning Game 4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, and thus forcing Wednesday night’s Game 5, the Yankees guaranteed themselves even more revenue.
Of course, the Yankees planned to pursue a Soto re-signing long before their playoff run. Soto was a major reason why the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since 2009.
After the Yankees missed the playoffs last year at 82-80, general manager Brian Cashman traded a five-player package to the San Diego Padres in December to acquire Soto and fellow outfielder Trent Grisham.
Soto, who turned 26 last week, delivered in his first season in pinstripes, slugging a career-high 41 home runs to go with 109 RBI. His .419 on-base percentage ranked second in the majors, while his .988 OPS ranked third. He batted in front of Aaron Judge, whose 58 home runs and 144 RBI led MLB hitters. The Yankees posted the American League’s best record at 94-68.
Soto’s excellence carried into the postseason, including when he crushed a go-ahead three-run home run in the 10th inning of the Yankees’ series-clinching ALCS Game 5 win in Cleveland.
Asked before the World Series if he thought about whether every clutch Soto hit made his price go up, Yankees manager Aaron Boone replied with a light-hearted, “Not really.”
“I want him up there in those spots because I know just how tough his at-bats are, and it seems like the bigger the at-bat, the bigger the moment, he does have a knack for seizing that moment,” Boone said. “We’ve seen it all year, culminating with an at-bat for the ages in the championship series.”
The Yankees’ payroll for the 2024 regular season was about $296 million, according to Baseball Prospectus. That included Soto’s $31 million salary.
The expiring contracts of Soto, Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo and Clay Holmes add up to more than $60 million that is coming off the books, and the Yankees hold a $17 million club option with a $6 million buyout for Anthony Rizzo as well.
But Soto, a five-time All-Star who appears poised for his fifth 10-top finish in MVP voting, could command a payday exceeding $500 million, or even $600 million, in total value.
The Mets — whose owner, Steve Cohen, has a net worth of $21.3 billion, according to Forbes — are heavily rumored to be interested, while the deep-pocketed Dodgers are known star-chasers whose heavily deferred $700 million contract for Shohei Ohtani could help them add another stud in the immediate future.
The Yankees — MLB’s most valuable franchise at $7.55 billion, according to Forbes — will also have to fill the vacancies left by their non-Soto free agents, be it by re-signing them or replacing them.
At the MLB owners meetings in May, Hal Steinbrenner suggested a payroll north of $300 million was “simply not sustainable” due to the accompanying luxury tax.
But Yankees fans badly want Soto back, which they’ve made clear throughout the season and playoffs with chants of “re-sign Soto” in the Bronx and beyond.
Perhaps the extra World Series revenue will help make it happen.
