Just in time for the 2024 NFL season kickoff, CNBC released its first-ever “official” National Football League franchise valuations.
The business-centric network released its rankings about an hour before the New York Stock Exchange opened on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, for the Baltimore Ravens, they did not place well.
CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations: Here’s how the 32 franchises stack up https://t.co/l4pf1W2OAK
— Mike Ozanian (@MikeOzanian) September 5, 2024
The good news is that they’re worth $6.03 billion and have annual revenue of $584 million. The bad news is that their EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $46 million is second lowest in the league.
Only the division rival Cincinnati Bengals were worse, and they happen to be the franchise that came in dead last in the rankings, with a valuation of $5.25 billion.
The Ravens came in 21st, as the average valuation for a franchise in the world’s most profitable sports league is currently $6.49B.
While it has been a generation since the Dallas Cowboys won anything significant, these rankings explain why their “America’s Team” moniker has persisted for over a half-century.
They don’t just top the list, with a valuation of $11B, they’re also $3B ahead of their next closest competitor, the L.A. Rams.
The author of the article that revealed the study, Mike Ozarian, went on CNBC early this morning to discuss the rankings. He said that stadium revenue is one of the biggest drivers, with corporate suites being one of the most important money makers on this dimension.
As he pointed out, these rankings do not perfectly sync with winning and losing. Merchandising, concessions, and attendance are three revenue streams that move up and down in conjunction with the rise and fall of winning percentage.
He also discussed the NFL’s changing business priorities during his appearance on “Squawk Box.”
“What they’re trying to figure out right now is, they’ve got some great programming, NFL Red Zone, NFL+, which is the league’s streaming service,” Ozarian said.
“You’ve got a lot of historical films, old games and stuff like that, they’ve been toying with the idea- do we put that in a separate company?
“Do we sell equity in that?
“How do we monetize that? That will probably be the next big revenue game the league has.”
While Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti is doing VERY well in life financially, he probably won’t be too happy with how his club showed out here.
