VALUE IS WHAT THEY GET

The Angels did not land a lavish new television contract last winter. They did not unveil new luxury suites. They did raise ticket prices but only modestly in comparison with other major league teams in prime markets.

And yet their franchise value shot up, way up. The Angels jumped from 13th to sixth in the annual Forbes rankings, in a year no other club jumped more than three spots.

Forbes estimated the Angels’ worth at $500 million, nearly three times the amount Arte Moreno paid to buy the club from the Walt Disney Co. five years ago.

The Angels, a fixture in the bottom half of the rankings under previous ownership, now trail only the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in estimated value.

“They really have turned into a premier franchise,” Forbes associate editor Kurt Badenhausen said.

The Dodgers’ value has soared under new ownership too. Frank and Jamie McCourt bought the club – and Dodger Stadium and surrounding parking lot – for $430 million four years ago. Forbes estimates the club alone is worth $632 million today.

“The Dodgers, financially, have turned the franchise around,” Badenhausen said.

The Dodgers turned a $20-million profit last season and the Angels turned a $15-million profit, according to Forbes. The Dodgers have turned double-digit losses under Fox into double-digit profits under the McCourts, and the Angels have turned consistent losses under Disney into consistent profits under Moreno.

Under new ownership, the Angels and Dodgers have had record attendance, and the Dodgers have opened new luxury seating areas and aggressively increased the price of tickets.

According to Team Marketing Report, the cost for a family of four – average-priced tickets, parking, hot dogs, drinks, programs and caps – has increased from $154 to $229 at Dodger Stadium since 2004.

At Angel Stadium, that cost has risen from $133 to $140 over the same period. (Luxury seats are not counted in calculating the average ticket price.)

That relative affordability, Badenhausen said, explains the big jump in the Angels’ franchise value.

“There’s room to increase revenue with the Angels,” he said. “The Dodgers have taken advantage of what were much lower ticket prices than a market like L.A. warranted.”

The Dodgers’ average ticket price ranks sixth this year, behind the two New York clubs, the two Chicago clubs and the Red Sox. The McCourts have invested heavily in renovating Dodger Stadium – $60 million last winter alone – and Badenhausen said he saw no indication the Dodgers’ prices would level off.

“If fans keep coming as ticket prices keep going up,” he said, “it isn’t exactly a deterrent to keep raising them.”

When Moreno added Los Angeles to the Angels’ name three years ago, he said he believed the affiliation could help generate enough additional revenue to ease price hikes.

Badenhausen said he has no concrete figures to support Moreno’s plan. Fox executives have said their $500-million contract with the Angels was driven by winning that keeps attendance and viewership up, not by the name change.

“Would the team have this level of success without L.A. in the name? Probably,” Badenhausen said. “Long term, I’ll say it does pay off for him.”

Forbes valued the Yankees highest, at $1.3 billion, followed by the Mets at $824 million and the Red Sox at $816 million.

The magazine said the Yankees and Red Sox were two of only three teams to lose money last year, estimating the Yankees’ loss at $47 million and the Boston loss at $13 million, but Badenhausen said the Yankees forfeited $115 million and the Red Sox $74 million in revenue sharing and luxury taxes.

Frank McCourt and Angels President Dennis Kuhl declined to comment.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com