The National Football League extends its financial domination while Major League Baseball fades like a late-breaking slider.
The world’s 50 most valuable sports teams are worth a combined $222.7 billion, 30% more than a year ago, the biggest increase in five years.
The NFL continues its dominance, with 30 of its 32 teams in the top 50, making up 60% of the list. The last time the NFL was represented by at least 30 teams was 2014. Last year, it had 26.
In 2013, the league had a record 32 teams in the top 50. But back then, the top three on the list were soccer teams: Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona. This year, the NFL has six of the top ten and 13 of the top 20 teams on our list. The main reason for the NFL’s success: the richest media deal in sports, worth $112 billion through 2032.
THE WORLD’S 50 MOST VALUABLE TEAMS: A HISTORY OF RAPID GROWTH
($ billions)
The most valuable team is the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, who are worth $8 billion and have held the top spot since 2016. Rounding out the top five are the New England Patriots ($6.4 billion), the Los Angeles Rams ($6.2 billion) and the New York Yankees and New York Giants, both valued at $6 billion.
The supremacy of the NFL is not an academic exercise. Last month, the Denver Broncos sold for $4.65 billion, a record amount for a sports team. The next-highest sale price was the $3.2 billion price tag for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets in 2019. Even in constant dollars, the Broncos sold for nearly $1 billion more than the Nets.
By contrast, MLB representation has slowly been declining since Forbes’ 2015 list, when baseball had 12 teams in the top 50. In the years following, MLB has had no more than eight teams, with a low of five in this year’s edition. The last baseball team to change hands was the New York Mets for $2.42 billion ($2.72 billion in 2022 dollars) in 2020.
THE WORLD’S 50 MOST VALUABLE TEAMS: LEAGUE BREAKDOWN
No NHL, Indian Premier League or MLS teams made the top 50. The New York Rangers, worth $2 billion, are the most valuable hockey team, and the Mumbai Indians, worth $1.3 billon, are the most valuable cricket team. Alas, our cutoff for this year’s top 50 is $3.1 billion. The most valuable MLS team is Los Angeles FC, worth a reported $860 million.
Teams in large, wealthier markets generally have a leg up on the competition when it comes to enterprise value. For example, California is the state with the largest population in the U.S. and boasts the most sports teams of any state with a total of 15. Unsurprisingly, the Golden State also has the most teams in the top 50 with eight—all residing in the second- and sixth-largest media markets in the country, Los Angeles and the Bay Area, respectively.
England and New York come in with the second-highest number of teams, each with four. New York has the largest metro area in the U.S., with over six million more people than Los Angeles.
WHERE THE 50 MOST VALUABLE TEAMS PLAY
World’s 50 Most Valuable Teams 2022
#1. $8 billion
DALLAS COWBOYS
Five-Year Change: 67% | Year Purchased: 1989 | Price Paid: $150 mil
Owner: Jerry Jones
Dallas Cowboys
Ron-Jenkins/AP
#2. $6.4 billion
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Five-Year Change: 73% | Year Purchased: 1994 | Price Paid: $172 mil
Owner: Robert Kraft
New England Patriots
Ashley Landis/AP
#3. $6.2 billion
LOS ANGELES RAMS
Five-Year Change: 107% | Year Purchased: 2010 | Price Paid: $750 mil
Owner: E. Stanley Kroenke
Los Angeles Rams
Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
#4. $6 billion
NEW YORK YANKEES
Five-Year Change: 62% | Year Purchased: 1973 | Price Paid: $8.8 mil
Owner: Steinbrenner family
New York Yankees
Noah K Murray/AP
#4. $6 billion
NEW YORK GIANTS
Five-Year Change: 82% | Year Purchased: 1925, 1991 | Price Paid: $500, $150 mil
Owner: John Mara, Steven Tisch
New York Giants
Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire/Getty-Images
#6. $5.8 billion
NEW YORK KNICKS
Five-Year Change: 76% | Year Purchased: 1997 | Price Paid: $300 mil
Owner: Madison Square Garden Sports
#6. $5.8 billion
CHICAGO BEARS
Five-Year Change: 104% | Year Purchased: 1920 | Price Paid: $100
Owner: McCaskey family
#8. $5.6 billion
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Five-Year Change: 115% | Year Purchased: 2010 | Price Paid: $450 mil
Owner: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber
#8. $5.6 billion
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Five-Year Change: 81% | Year Purchased: 1999 | Price Paid: $750 mil
Owners: Daniel Snyder, Tanya Snyder
#10. $5.5 billion
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Five-Year Change: 83% | Year Purchased: 1979, 2021 | Price Paid: $20 mil, $5 bil
Owner: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Todd Boehly, Mark Walter
Los Angeles Lakers
Ashley Landis/AP
#11. $5.4 billion
NEW YORK JETS
Five-Year Change: 96% | Year Purchased: 2000 | Price Paid: $635 mil
Owner: Johnson family
#12. $5.2 billion
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Five-Year Change: 70% | Year Purchased: 1977 | Price Paid: $13 mil
Owners: Denise DeBartolo York, John York
#13. $5.1 billion
REAL MADRID
Five-Year Change: 42% | Year Purchased: N/A | Price Paid: N/A
Owner: Club members
#13. $5.1 billion
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
Five-Year Change: 114% | Year Purchased: 1966 | Price Paid: $180,000
Owner: Mark Davis
#15. $5 billion
BARCELONA
Five-Year Change: 39% | Year Purchased: N/A | Price Paid: N/A
Owner: Club members
Barcelona
Joan Monfort/AP
#16. $4.9 billion
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Five-Year Change: 85% | Year Purchased: 1994 | Price Paid: $185 mil
Owner: Jeffery Lurie
#17. $4.7 billion
HOUSTON TEXANS
Five-Year Change: 68% | Year Purchased: 1999 | Price Paid: $600 mil
Owner: Janice McNair
#18. $4.65 billion
DENVER BRONCOS
Five-Year Change: 79% | Year Purchased: 2022 | Price Paid: $4.5 bil
Owner: Rob Walton
#19. $4.6 billion
MANCHESTER UNITED
Five-Year Change: 24% | Year Purchased: 2005 | Price Paid: $1.4 bil
Owner: Glazer family
#19. $4.6 billion
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Five-Year Change: 79% | Year Purchased: 2009 | Price Paid: $1.1 bil
Owner: Stephen Ross
Miami Dolphins
Eric Espada/Getty Images
#21. $4.5 billion
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Five-Year Change: 86% | Year Purchased: 1997 | Price Paid: $194 mil
Owner: Paul G. Allen Trust
#22. $4.45 billion
LIVERPOOL
Five-Year Change: 197% | Year Purchased: 2010 | Price Paid: $476 mil
Owner: John Henry, Thomas Werner
#23. $4.28 billion
BAYERN MUNICH
Five-Year Change: 58% | Year Purchased: N/A | Price Paid: N/A
Owner: Club members
#24. $4.25 billion
MANCHESTER CITY
Five-Year Change: 102% | Year Purchased: 2008 | Price Paid: $385 mil
Owner: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
#24. $4.25 billion
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Five-Year Change: 67% | Year Purchased: 1921 | Price Paid: $100
Owner: Shareholders
Green Bay Packers
Charlie Riedel/AP
#26. $4.08 billion
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Five-Year Change: 48% | Year Purchased: 2012 | Price Paid: $2 bil
Owner: Guggenheim Baseball Management
#27. $4 billion
ATLANTA FALCONS
Five-Year Change: 62% | Year Purchased: 2002 | Price Paid: $545 mil
Owner: Arthur Blank
#28. $3.98 billion
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Five-Year Change: 62% | Year Purchased: 1933 | Price Paid: $2,500
Owner: Daniel Rooney Trust, Arthur Rooney II
#29. $3.93 billion
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Five-Year Change: 64% | Year Purchased: 2005 | Price Paid: $600 mil
Owner: Zygmunt Wilf
#30. $3.9 billion
BOSTON RED SOX
Five-Year Change: 44% | Year Purchased: 2002 | Price Paid: $380 mil
Owner: John Henry, Thomas Werner
Boston Red Sox
Michael Dwyer/AP
#30. $3.9 billion
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Five-Year Change: 56% | Year Purchased: 2004 | Price Paid: $600 mil
Owner: Stephen Bisciotti
#32. $3.88 billion
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Five-Year Change: 70% | Year Purchased: 1984 | Price Paid: $72 mil
Owner: Dean Spanos
#33. $3.85 billion
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Five-Year Change: 97% | Year Purchased: 2012 | Price Paid: $987 mil
Owner: Dee and Jimmy Haslam
#34. $3.8 billion
CHICAGO CUBS
Five-Year Change: 42% | Year Purchased: 2009 | Price Paid: $700 mil
Owner: Ricketts family
Chicago Cubs
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
#34. $3.8 billion
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Five-Year Change: 60% | Year Purchased: 1972 | Price Paid: $14 mil
Owner: James Irsay
#36. $3.7 billion
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Five-Year Change: 76% | Year Purchased: 1960 | Price Paid: $25,000
Owner: Hunt family
#37. $3.68 billion
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Five-Year Change: 86% | Year Purchased: 1995 | Price Paid: $192 mil
Owner: Glazer family
#38. $3.65 billion
CHICAGO BULLS
Five-Year Change: 46% | Year Purchased: 1985 | Price Paid: $16.2 mil
Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf
#39. $3.6 billion
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Five-Year Change: 57% | Year Purchased: 2018 | Price Paid: $2.275 bil
Owner: David Tepper
Carolina Panthers
Jacob-Kupferman/AP
#40. $3.58 billion
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Five-Year Change: 79% | Year Purchased: 1985 | Price Paid: $70.2 mil
Owner: Gayle Benson
#41. $3.55 billion
BOSTON CELTICS
Five-Year Change: 61% | Year Purchased: 2002 | Price Paid: $360 mil
Owner: Wycliffe Grousbeck, Irving Grousbeck, Robert Epstein, Stephen Pagliuca
#42. $3.5 billion
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Five-Year Change: 32% | Year Purchased: 1993 | Price Paid: $100 mil
Owner: Greg Johnson
#42. $3.5 billion
TENNESSEE TITANS
Five-Year Change: 71% | Year Purchased: 1959 | Price Paid: $25,000
Owner: Amy Adams Strunk
#44. $3.48 billion
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Five-Year Change: 67% | Year Purchased: 2011 | Price Paid: $770 mil
Owner: Shahid Khan
Jacksonville Jaguars
Phelan M Ebenhack/AP
#45. $3.4 billion
BUFFALO BILLS
Five-Year Change: 113% | Year Purchased: 2014 | Price Paid: $1.4 bil
Owner: Terry and Kim Pegula
#46. $3.3 billion
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Five-Year Change: 65% | Year Purchased: 2014 | Price Paid: $2 bil
Owner: Steve Ballmer
#47. $3.27 billion
ARIZONA CARDINALS
Five-Year Change: 52% | Year Purchased: 1935 | Price Paid: $50,000
Owner: Michael Bidwill
#48. $3.2 billion
BROOKLYN NETS
Five-Year Change: 78% | Year Purchased: 2019 | Price Paid: $3.2 bil
Owner: Joseph Tsai
#48. $3.2 billion
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
Five-Year Change: 280% | Year Purchased: 2011 | Price Paid: $100 mil
Owner: Qatar Sports Investment
Paris Saint Germain
Aurelien Morissard/AP
#50. $3.1 billion
CHELSEA
Five-Year Change: 72% | Year Purchased: 2022 | Price Paid: $5.4 bil
Owner: Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital
METHODOLOGY
The 50 most valuable teams are culled from our IPL, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and soccer team valuations during the past 12 months. For MLS values, we leaned on Sportico. Our team values are enterprise values (equity plus net debt) and include the economics of each team’s stadium as well as the rights fees they get from their regional sports networks. But the valuations exclude the team’s equity stakes in other sports-related assets, like RSNs, other sports leagues and mixed-use real estate projects. For appraisals that include all sports-related assets, see Forbes’ annual ranking of the most valuable sports empires.
MORE FROM FORBES
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2022/09/08/the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams-2022/