Professional athletes may seem like they’re making jaw-dropping money as some are signing contracts worth over half a billion dollars. But that’s largely because the sports teams that employ them have continued to see their values shoot up.
Live sports have remained a key component in the ever-changing media landscape, bridging the gap between cable television and streaming. This has helped increase revenue, which brings majority of the revenue for many of the sports leagues around the world.
The NFL signed a ten-year deal that ends in 2033 worth over $100 billion, the NBA is seeking about $7 to $8 billion per year for its next media rights deal starting, and even leagues like Major League Soccer have cashed in as well.
On top of that, sports teams are their own massive brands themselves, benefitting from ticket and merchandise sales and even ownership of the arena in their cities.
Forbes and Sportico are two outlets that track the franchise valuations of the professional sports teams around the world. Valuation isn’t always set in stone as some teams have not had a sale to determine valuation in decades. Others that have been sold recently are much easier to determine, like the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, who were sold to Matt Ishbia for $4 billion earlier this year.
The two outlets have differing valuations for the franchises which differs their overall rank -- a team like Miami Dolphins ranks 19th on Forbes, but is all the way down to 28th on Sportico.
But there are a few trends that cross through both outlets. One is that NFL franchises have the highest value, with the Dallas Cowboys topping both lists at $8 billion for Forbes and $7.64 billion for Sportico.
Several NBA and MLB franchises also make the list, alongside European football clubs in the English Premier League and La Liga.
Here is the list of 20 of the most valuable sports franchises and their ranks on both Forbes and Sportico:
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dallas Cowboys - NFL
Forbes: $8 billion, 1st
Sportico: $7.64 billion, 1st
New England Patriots - NFL
Forbes: $6.4 billion, 2nd
Sportico: $5.88 billion, 9th
Los Angeles Rams - NFL
Forbes: $6.2 billion, 3rd
Sportico: $5.91 billion, 8th
Washington Commanders - NFL
Per May 2023 signed sale agreement: $6.05 billion; Would be 4th on Forbes, 6th on Sportico
Note: The Washington Commanders and owner Dan Snyder agreed to sell the franchise to Josh Harris in May for $6.05 billion, the largest sale of a franchise in NFL history.
Prior to sale, Commanders were valued at $5.6 billion by Forbes (9th) and $4.78 billion by Sportico (14th).
New York Yankees - MLB
Forbes: $6 billion, T-5th
Sportico: $7.13 billion, 3rd
New York Giants - NFL
Forbes: $6 billion, T-5th
Sportico: $5.73 billion, 10th
New York Knicks - NBA
Forbes: $5.8 billion, 7th
Sportico: 6.58 billion, 4th
Chicago Bears - NFL
Forbes: $5.8 billion, 7th
Sportico: $5 billion, 14th
Golden State Warriors - NBA
Forbes: $5.6 billion, 9th
Sportico: $7.56 billion, 2nd
Los Angeles Lakers - NBA
Forbes: $5.6 billion, 10th
Sportico: $6.44 billion, 5th
New York Jets - NFL
Forbes: $5.4 billion, 11th
Sportico: $4.8 billion, 16th
San Francisco 49ers - NFL
Forbes: $5.2 billion, 12th
Sportico: $5.18 billion, 13th
Real Madrid C.F. - La Liga
Forbes: $5.1 billion, T-13th
Sportico: $5.23 billion, 11th
Las Vegas Raiders - NFL
Forbes: $5.1 billion, T-13th
Sportico: $4.08 billion, T-28th
FC Barcelona - La Liga
Forbes: $5 billion, 15th
Sportico: $4.95 billion, 15th
Philadelphia Eagles - NFL
Forbes: $4.9 billion, 16th
Sportico: $4.7 billion, 17th
Houston Texans - NFL
Forbes: $4.7 billion, 17th
Sportico: Houston Texans, 21st
Denver Broncos - NFL
Forbes: $4.65 billion, 18th
Sportico: $4.65 billion, 20th
Manchester United F.C. - Premier League
Forbes: $4.6 billion, T-19th
Sportico: $5.95, 7th
Miami Dolphins - NFL
Forbes: $4.6 billion, T-19th
Sportico: $4.06 billion, T-28th
