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AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 1h ago
Dodgers’ revenue-sharing advantage reportedly worth up to $55 million in 2026
Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent acquisition of two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, backlash is continuing over a bankruptcy-era agreement that allows the Dodgers to shield a portion of their local television revenue from MLB’s revenue-sharing system. Now, new details are emerging over exactly how much they, and other big-market MLB teams, could be saving.
After the Dodgers were purchased out of bankruptcy in 2012, the bankruptcy court, which was involved in the Dodgers’ then-ongoing TV rights negotiations, ordered that only a portion of that money would be subject to MLB’s revenue-sharing system.
According to a new report from Sportico , that will result in the Los Angeles Dodgers saving between $50 million and $55 million in 2026. The Dodgers will receive about $320 million this year as part of its local TV deal with SportsNet LA, with about $100 million of that being exempt to revenue sharing under their bankruptcy exception.
Competitive imbalance in Major League Baseball has become a major talking point, with the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners set to expire in December. Even before the Skubal trade, a lockout, which last occurred after the 2021 MLB season and resulted in the 2022 season being pushed back by a week, was thought to be all but guaranteed. After the Skubal trade, many wondered if a single game would be played during the 2027 MLB season.
The Dodgers’ bankruptcy exception has been cited by many as a major factor behind the Dodgers’ ability to acquire and keep so many All-Star-caliber MLB players. Many expect Skubal to sign an extension with the Dodgers.
The roughly $50 million in savings revealed by Sportico is certainly significant, especially given that the exception reportedly continues through 2039. Currently, only three MLB players make more than $50 million per season, and two already play for the Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, and Juan Soto.
Sportico also noted that the Dodgers are not the only club benefiting from media-related quirks in MLB’s financial system. Teams including the Yankees and Red Sox own large stakes in their regional sports networks, allowing revenues earned from those RSNs to fall outside MLB’s revenue-sharing formula. Clubs with large ownership stakes in their RSNs can artificially suppress their local media rights fees to avoid paying more into the revenue sharing pool, instead profiting from the RSN that is not subject to the league’s revenue sharing arrangement.
It is not only the Yankees and Red Sox benefiting from this. The Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers all have ownership stakes in their RSNs.
It’s worth pointing out that many of the same clubs that benefit from favorable local media economics also paid the largest competitive balance tax bills last season. The Los Angeles Dodgers led the way, according to Sportico, with $169 million, followed by the Mets at $92 million, the Yankees at $62 million, and the Phillies at $56 million.
Overall, nine teams paid $403 million in luxury tax penalties last season.
Competitive balance is certainly a real issue in baseball, but the outsized focus on the Dodgers may obscure the extent to which other large-market clubs also benefit from favorable media-rights economics.
The post Dodgers’ revenue-sharing advantage reportedly worth up to $55 million in 2026 appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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