Now for the last in the series this year, and saving the best for last: the Jays Care Foundation. Jays Care runs away with the top spot with an IMPACT+ score of 304.3. They are tops in revenue and grants paid. Jays Care is both a grant maker and
The New York Yankees are worth an estimated $8.2 billion and take in about $728 million a year in team revenue. Both are the highest in Major League Baseball. Yet, this position as the top brand in the league does not appear to trickle down to the New York
Despite ranking second to last in both team revenue and franchise valuation, the Rays Baseball Foundation shows you don't need either to make a difference in your community. Its Impact+ score of 103.5 puts it at #13 of 29, right around league average. Revenue of $2.7M
I'm trying to find a positive for this one. There are some green shoots here, but the top line is not a great look. You have a team that is in the top half of the league in valuation and revenue. They are in a solid market. Their
Since 2014, the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy has served more than 6,000 kids in Washington, D.C., ages 5 to 18, with free after-school programming built around academics, character development, and access to baseball and softball. It's a building they run, with staff, a curriculum, and
When a snapshot undersells the current impact. The Atlanta Braves Foundation is a good case study of the limitations of looking historically using 990 data. Using this lens, they are middle of the pack in terms of IMPACT+. But upon a closer look, I see a Foundation with a focus
Disclosure: Yes, I am a Cubs fan, but that does not influence my analysis or opinion when looking at the St. Louis Cardinals Community Fund/Cardinals Care. Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at the impact they have had in their
With Roberto Clemente Day celebrated just two days ago, it's a good time to look at the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pirates Charities. Unfortunately, in contrast to the legacy of Clemente, the Pirates Charities do not come out well in IMPACT+, ranking last of the 29 teams (remember,
Moving to the Motor City and a first in this series - a foundation that is not solely for the baseball club's. The Ilitch Charities does business as both the Detroit Tigers Foundation and the Detroit Red Wings Foundation as the Ilitch Family is the majority owner of both.
Volatility as a structure. Staying in the AL Central and moving to the Cleveland Guardians Charities. This snapshot connects with an earlier post about the MLB Legacy Initiative tied to the All-Star game and its host organization. In 2019, Cleveland served as the host, and the data shows the
Small market, big impact. The Kansas City Royals rank near the bottom of the league in franchise valuation and team revenue. When I began this research, I expected that these two metrics would correlate most closely with how much a foundation raises and deploys. And yet the Royals Foundation lands
Eight Man Out. Frank Thomas. Carlton Fisk without the earflaps. Mark Buerhle. Paul Konerko. Robin Ventura being pummeled by Nolan Ryan. These are the things that come to mind when I think of the White Sox. What doesn't come to mind is anything to do with their community
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Staying in the NL and looking at another mid-market team: the Milwaukee Brewers, a franchise that continues to outpace many of the more moneyed teams in baseball on the field. It's interesting to look at the Brewers Community Foundation immediately after the Rockies, because these are two
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Moving to another NL West team, and actually the final one from the division, we have the Colorado Rockies and the Rockies Foundation. And maybe it’s just as you’d expect? The IMPACT+ score rates at the bottom of the league at 37.8. The good: they basically grant
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Last fall, I happened to meet someone who has been involved with the San Francisco Giants and the Giants Community Fund for a number of years (he happened to be wearing his World Series ring at the time, and I got to hold it!). I mentioned the idea of this
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Back when I wrote the very first post in this series, comparing what happened to the Mets and Dodgers foundations after their ownership changes, I flagged the Orioles as the other real case study worth watching, as David Rubenstein bought the team in 2024 and is now one of the
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When I was going through the All-Star Legacy Initiative numbers for the last post, one finding jumped out at me: the Rangers' $7 million investment in 2024. In digging further into the data, I learned that this wasn't the largest Legacy Initiative effort: that title belongs,
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The spike that pulled me into a rabbit hole The Astros rate well on IMPACT+ — a 104.3, slightly above league average, good for #12 of 29. But that's not what drew my attention when I pulled this one together. Take a look and see what question you
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The "before" picture...now we just wait for the "after". The Padres are the most recent team to change hands — José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones closed on the franchise in May 2026 at a record $3.9 billion. That makes the Padres Foundation the next
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As I noted in the previous post, MLB and host clubs have given nearly $125M to local communities through the All-Star Legacy initiative since its inception, dating back to 1997. I went back and looked at press releases and news stories to document the impact these efforts have made.
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With the 2026 All-Star Game happening in Philadelphia, it's a good time to look at Phillies Charities. First, though, an interesting aspect of the All-Star festivities: since 1997, MLB has run the Legacy Initiative in partnership with the host club to support local organizations as well
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Another story from childhood. This was back in the day before my family had a desktop computer. I must have been 8 years old, and the way we would find out what little league team we were on was from a phone call from the coach, who would have to
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"Get your 50/50 raffle ticket!" If you've been to a baseball game, you've heard it. It's a lottery with decent odds, a good cause, and you're already there anyway — so why not? Five tickets, please. I got curious: what
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Do I need to add an asterisk? I was 13 when Cal Ripken Jr. played his 2,131st consecutive game and passed Lou Gehrig's record. One of the things I remember about that time is how some people thought the record needed an asterisk because of the strike-