NFL’s Cowboys extend reign atop most valuable teams list
The Dallas Cowboys were ranked the world’s most valuable sports team for a fourth consecutive year according to an annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday that was dominated by National Football League clubs.
The NFL’s Cowboys, who unseated Spanish soccer club Real Madrid for top spot on the list in 2016, were valued at $5 billion, a 4% rise when compared to last year, Forbes said in a statement.
Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, who last year enjoyed a 10% jump in attendance along with strong ratings on the team’s YES Network, moved up three spots to sit second on the list with a value of $4.6 billion.
Real Madrid ($4.2 billion), Spanish soccer club Barcelona ($4.02 billion) and the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks ($4 billion) rounded out the top five.
Manchester United slipped from second to sixth on the list, seeing a value drop from $4.12 billion to $3.81 billion.
The Old Trafford club endured a miserable 2018-19 campaign, finishing sixth in the Premier League and missing out on a place in the Champions League for 2019/20.
Champions League winner Liverpool made the list after missing out last year while Premier League champion Manchester City climbed five places to 25th with a value of $2.69 billion. Chelsea jumped 14 places to 32nd on the list after winning the Europa League and Arsenal slipped down three places to 42nd after missing out on Champions League football for a third consecutive season.
“The values of teams in major sports leagues are booming thanks to sky-high TV deals, both local and national,” said Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor of Forbes Media. “And with revenue growing faster than player salaries, franchises are more profitable than they have ever been.”
Teams from the NFL accounted for 26 of the 50 teams on the list, down from 29 teams a year ago as some other major sports chipped away at its dominance.
Credit the monster media-rights deals with the likes of CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and DirecTV that paid out more than $260 million per NFL team last year. The TV haul is a nice cushion to easily cover teams’ biggest expense item, player costs, before any tickets, sponsorships, beer or replica jerseys are sold.
The NBA – in which three franchises have been sold for at least $2 billion since 2014 – had nine teams on the list, one more than last year, while European soccer and MLB each had one more team represented this time around with eight and seven, respectively.
No ice hockey, Formula One or Nascar teams made the cut.