Storied franchises, storied cities: Yankees and Dodgers to meet in World Series for 12th time

When the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers take the field Friday, it will mark a record 12th time the two storied franchises have met in the World Series.
Both have been the best teams in their respective leagues this year, and it’s only fitting they meet again in the Fall Classic. And according to a new analysis, New York and Los Angeles rank No. 1 and No. 2 as the best baseball cities in America.
The Yankees and Dodgers first played each other in the World Series in 1941. They clashed five times from 1949 to 1956, including back to back in 1952 and 1953. They also faced each other in 1977 and 1978. The Yankees won eight of the previous 11 matchups, with Dodger victories coming in 1955, 1963 and 1981, the last time the two teams faced each other for the title.
The Yankees won six of seven meetings when the Dodgers were still based in Brooklyn. Since the Dodgers’ move west, the teams are even at two apiece.
The cross-country series pits clubs from the cities that the personal finance website WalletHub ranks as the best in the U.S. for baseball. It compared over 330 cities with at least one college or professional baseball team across 31 key metrics, ranging from the performance of its teams to average ticket prices and fan engagement.
New York came out on top, followed by Los Angeles.
In addition to the Yankees, New York also has the Mets, who lost to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series this year. Between them, the Yankees and Mets have 29 World Series titles — 27 of them belonging to the Bronx Bombers. New York also has the highest average franchise value in the country, at $5.28 billion, with the Yankees being worth over $7 billion and the Mets worth closer to $3 billion, according to WalletHub.
While Brooklyn lost its major league team in 1958, it has the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor-league affiliate of the Mets. New York also has six NCAA Division 1 baseball teams.
Los Angeles has the Dodgers and the Angels, though the Angels play in Anaheim. The two teams have won a combined eight World Series titles — seven for the Dodgers, one for the Angels. The average franchise value in Los Angeles is over $4 billion, with the Dodgers worth more than the Angels, according to WalletHub.
While Los Angeles doesn’t have any minor league teams, it has four NCAA Division 1 teams, including USC and UCLA.
The cities rounding out the top five in WalletHub’s rankings are St. Louis, Atlanta and Boston.
Salt Lake City, home to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees and the University of Utah, landed 53rd on the list. Salt Lake City is among several cities looking to get a major league expansion team. The Larry H. Miller Company is leading the effort, with plans to build a big league stadium on the city’s west side as part of a multibillion-dollar mixed-use project. The company also owns the Bees and is moving the team to a new stadium under construction in South Jordan, about 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said at his annual summer meeting with The Associated Press Sports Editors group that he anticipates having a two-team expansion process in place by January 2029, when his term as commissioner ends. A new team wouldn’t begin play until 2031. Manfred declined to talk about the viability of any city, but said baseball would need a team in the East and one in the West to make the format work.
Among other cities in the running for a major league expansion franchise on WalletHub’s list, Nashville ranked 29th, Austin 64th, Charlotte 87th and Portland 259th.
“Baseball is one of America’s most treasured sports, and fans are fiercely loyal to their favorite teams, but fandom can get costly. Enjoying MLB games in person can be quite expensive, for example. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of excitement to be had supporting minor league teams or even NCAA baseball at a much cheaper cost,” according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “While the top baseball cities tend to be those with the best performing MLB teams, they also often have several teams to cheer on at the minor league and collegiate levels.”
Ticket prices for the Fall Classic starting Friday night at Dodger Stadium aren’t cheap.
Per CBS News, as of Monday, resale tickets for Game 1 range from about $2,000 for seats in the upper deck in right field to over $37,000 to sit right behind home plate, before taxes and fees. Resale tickets for Game 3 at Yankee Stadium range from $1,500 for seats in the right field bleachers to over $18,000 to sit next to the Yankees’ dugout. New York also has a standing-room-only Pinstripe Pass for more than $1,000 that includes a drink but no seat.
StubHub reports sales have outpaced last year’s final figures and are four times higher than the pace of the 2022 Series. Sales for games 3 through 5 in New York are 40% higher than for games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Los Angeles, CBS News reported.