LOS ANGELES – Major League Baseball and its broadcast partners have exactly what they want in the upcoming World Series: the New York Yankees versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The largest TV markets on the East Coast versus the largest on the West Coast.

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Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani, the game’s two biggest stars, both presumptive league MVPs, who will grace the Fall Classic for the first time.

“I really feel like we’ve finally arrived, I’ve finally arrived at this stage,” Ohtani said Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.

According to the club, the clubs are the two highest-priced teams Sportico‘s own most recent appraisals. They are among the biggest revenue generators and biggest spenders.

To reach the best-of-seven World Series that begins Friday evening at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers eliminated the New York Mets 10-5 on Sunday in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series with the help of an opener and six relievers. The Yankees had previously defeated Cleveland in Game 5 on Saturday night to wrap up the American League championship.

The Yankees are going to the World Series for the 41st time and have won 27. The Dodgers have won it all six times. It will be the twelfth time the Yanks have faced the Dodgers in the World Series, but the first time since 1981. New York has won eight of the first eleven between the two teams.

Mark Walter and Guggenheim Baseball purchased the Dodgers from Frank McCourt in 2012 for $2.15 billion. The club is now worth $6.3 billion, second in Major League Baseball behind the Yanks at $7.93 billion. The Mets team they beat is worth $2.91 billion.

“This feels great, but we need four more wins,” Walter said on the Dodger Stadium field after receiving the Warren Giles Trophy for winning the NL pennant.

The club’s value has increased 20% since 2023, when they generated $637 million in revenue in the MLB’s second tier, again just behind the Yankees, who earned $720 million.

Both teams have spared little expense to get this far. The Dodgers spent $339.8 million on player salaries this season, second in the MLB and about $11 million behind the top-spending Mets. The Yankees came in third with $314.7 million.

This offseason, LA spent $1.025 billion on free agents Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani for 10 years for $700 million, with $680 million deferred, Yamamoto for 12 years for $325 million.

“The goal was to get this far,” Ohtani said. “And I could see myself getting this far with the contract I signed. … All the games were very difficult. But I’m just glad we’re here now.”

Walter is satisfied with the investment. “We’ve been a good team,” Walter said. “We won four pennants in eight years, which is all you can hope for.”

Well, you can hope to win the World Series. The Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros in a seven-game World Series in 2017, which was ultimately tainted by the Houston sign-stealing scandal. They dropped a five-game series to the Boston Red Sox in 2018. When they finally won, it was in six games over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Globe Life Field bubble that closed out the 60-game COVID-shortened 2020 regular season.

The Dodgers celebrated the victory on a neutral field and were unable to hold a parade in downtown Los Angeles due to health and safety restrictions.

If they beat the Yankees, whose last World Series win was in 2009, that wouldn’t be the case.

“We’d like that,” Walter said. “The fans certainly deserve it. We have always been knocking on the door, so it is time.”

The last time the Dodgers celebrated winning a playoff series on their home Dodger Stadium turf before Sunday night was in 1988, when they defeated the Mets in a seven-game NLCS.

Orel Hershiser defeated Ron Darling 6-0 in Game 7. Unlike Sunday night’s LA bullpen game, Hershiser went the full nine innings.

In these playoffs, the Dodger starters averaged 3.4 innings over the first 12 games. Things won’t get noticeably better against the Yankees.

The fact that the Dodgers eliminated the San Diego Padres and the Mets in their first two playoff rounds with only three viable starters – Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler – is a testament to how well the bullpen has pitched.

Walter said he credited manager Dave Roberts for solving all the pitching and injury issues. For example, star first baseman Freddie Freeman was not in the lineup on Sunday and has missed two of the past three games due to a high right ankle sprain.

Roberts has been at the helm under Walter’s supervision during all four World Series appearances. “It was great to work the bullpen the way he did,” Walter said of Roberts. “He was great, but actually the whole team and staff were great. We are very proud of them, but we still have more work to do. We didn’t come here to win the pennant. We came here to win the World Series.”

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