re: Did every MLB team make a profit in 2012?

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And Buffett isn’t the league’s only billionaire owner, either. Robert E. Rich, Jr., who made his $2.1 billion with food conglomerate Rich Products, owns the Buffalo Bisons (No. 13); Herb Simon, chairman and director of Simon Property – the nation’s largest publicly traded real estate investment trust – is a co-owner of the Reno Aces (No. 14).

Why would some of the nation’s wealthiest men be interested in owning such small professional sports teams? Simple: it’s smart business.

Of the 160 minor league teams with player development contracts with MLB team, not one pays a single player, coach, manager or trainer. While the majority of MLB teams’ expenses go towards player costs, they are paid in full for minor league teams. The minor league squads don’t even pay the full cost for bats and balls; it’s split with the major league affiliate. It’s a sweet deal made even sweeter by the cities and counties that are willing to finance minor league stadiums in order to help stimulate their local economies.

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While even the top MiLB teams are worth a fraction of the $605 million that the typical MLB team is worth, minor league teams have often delivered spectacular returns because of the minimal investment required to buy one. Someone that paid $22 million for a team earning $4 million is roughly getting an 18% pretax return on capital.

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