LOOK: Here's the check the Royals wrote to join the AL in 1968

The Royals paid a $100,000 fee to join the American League back in 1968. Here's the check.

The Royals took Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday night (KC 5, TOR 0), and Saturday afternoon they'll look to take Game 2 behind ace Yordano Ventura. Kansas City is attempting to win its second straight AL pennant.

The Royals franchise joined MLB back in 1969, when the league was in the middle of its expansion boom. Two expansion teams joined the league in 1961, two more in 1962, and four more in 1969. MLB went from 16 teams to 24 teams in a decade.

Anyway, the Royals had to pay a $100,000 fee to join the American League as an expansion team in 1968. Via Commerce Bank on Twitter, here is the check the team wrote:

The CPI Inflation Calculator tells me $100,000 in 1968 is equivalent to $683,750 in 2015 dollars. The Royals got off easy! The Diamondbacks and Devil Rays paid a $150 million expansion fee in 1998. The NHL is currently seeking a $500 million fee from potential expansion franchises.

That's a ton of cash to pay out up front, but MLB franchises are among the best investments you could possibly make. The league is booming and revenue is at an all-time high. And the revenue-sharing system all but guarantees you'll make money. It's good work if you can get it.