Amid the celebration of last week’s National League Championship Series-clinching win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio couldn’t help but think back to a comment from a news conference when he was preparing to take over the team. On that day in 2004, Attanasio recalled, a reporter sitting in the front row had told him, “You won’t be so cheery when you lose for another 26 years.”

“So here we are, 22 years later,” the 69-year-old billionaire said from the field at Dodger Stadium, chuckling after his Brewers had clinched the franchise’s first World Series berth since 1982. “We beat the standard.”

The victory was especially sweet coming against Los Angeles, which had swept Milwaukee in the same round of the playoffs just last year. While the Brewers won an MLB-best 103 games in the regular season, they had the air of an underdog facing off with the Dodgers, who spent more than $300 million on their roster this year and are valued at $7.8 billion in part because they are based in the nation’s second-largest market.

In the World Series, which begins Friday night, Milwaukee will be more evenly matched—at least from a financial standpoint—with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Brewers ranked 21st on Forbes’ 2026 list of MLB’s most valuable teams, at $1.9 billion, while playing in the United States’ 41st-largest metropolitan area with baseball’s 19th-highest payroll, at $146 million, according to Spotrac. The Rays, meanwhile, make their home in the country’s 17th-largest metro area and are 24th in baseball with their valuation ($1.7 billion) and 28th with their payroll ($96 million).

For your first year. Renews at $135.99 annually

Subscriptions renew automatically. Taxes added at checkout. You may cancel your subscription at any time.

The comparison is particularly appropriate this year as Major League Baseball heads into a labor battle that could challenge the economic foundations of the sport. With the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union set to expire in December, owners are pushing for a salary cap, arguing that it would help level the playing........

© Forbes