The World Cup and NBA free agency have dominated the sports headlines this month. Soccer and basketball are global sports with incredible growth prospects, thanks to their international reach. More than three billion people tune in to watch the World Cup every four years. Nike uses NBA stars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant to pitch the wares of the sports giant around the globe.
But despite the global popularity of basketball and soccer, American football is still king on the financial ledger. The NFL lands 29 teams among the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world (only the Bills, Bengals and Lions missed the cut from the NFL). Football ranks well ahead of basketball (8 teams), soccer (7 teams) and baseball (6 teams).
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his star running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The NFL is still the dominant sport in the world's biggest economy. Thirty-seven percent of Americans picked football as their favorite sport to watch in the latest Gallup Poll. Football is down from it's peak of 43% a dozen years ago, but it still crushes basketball (11%), baseball (9%) and soccer (7%).
TV networks pay billions to satisfy viewers wanting NFL action. NFL teams evenly divvied up $8.2 billion, or $255 million per team, last season from shared league revenue, with TV rights deals from CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and DirecTV the bulk of the money. Factor in a salary cap that restricts player costs to 50% of league revenue and NFL owners are minting money with average profits of $101 million per team in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortization.
Below is a breakdown of the world's 50 most valuable sports franchises. Click here for more on the top teams.
Rank, Team, Value, 1-Year change (Sport)
1. Dallas Cowboys, $4.8 billion, 14% (NFL)
2. Manchester United, $4.123 billion, 12% (Soccer)
3. Real Madrid, $4.09 billion, 14% (Soccer)
4. Barcelona, $4.064 billion, 12% (Soccer)
5. New York Yankees, $4 billion, 8% (MLB)
6. New England Patriots, $3.7 billion, 9% (NFL)
7. New York Knicks, $3.6 billion, 9% (NBA)
8. Los Angeles Lakers, $3.3 billion, 10% (NBA)
8. New York Giants, $3.3 billion, 6% (NFL)
10. Golden State Warriors, $3.1 billion, 19% (NBA)
10. Washington Redskins, $3.1 billion, 5% (NFL)
12. Bayern Munich, $3.063 billion, 13% (Soccer)
13. San Francisco 49ers, $3.05 billion, 2% (NFL)
14. Los Angeles Dodgers, $3 billion, 9% (MLB)
14. Los Angeles Rams, $3 billion, 3% (NFL)
16. Chicago Cubs, $2.9 billion, 8% (MLB)
17. San Francisco Giants, $2.85 billion, 8% (MLB)
17. Chicago Bears, $2.85 billion, 6% (NFL)
19. Boston Red Sox, $2.8 billion, 4% (MLB)
19. Houston Texans, $2.8 billion, 8% (NFL)
21. New York Jets, $2.75 billion, 0% (NFL)
22. Philadelphia Eagles, $2.65 billion, 6% (NFL)
23. Chicago Bulls, $2.6 billion, 4% (NBA)
23. Denver Broncos, $2.6 billion, 8% (NFL)
25. Miami Dolphins, $2.575 billion, 8% (NFL)
26. Green Bay Packers, $2.55 billion, 9% (NFL)
27. Boston Celtics, $2.5 billion, 14% (NBA)
27. Baltimore Ravens, $2.5 billion, 9% (NFL)
29. Atlanta Falcons, $2.475 billion, 16% (NFL)
30. Manchester City, $2.474 billion, 19% (Soccer)
31. Pittsburgh Steelers, $2.45 billion, 9% (NFL)
32. Seattle Seahawks, $2.425 billion, 9% (NFL)
33. Minnesota Vikings, $2.4 billion, 9% (NFL)
34. Oakland Raiders, $2.38 billion, 13% (NFL)
35. Indianapolis Colts, $2.375 billion, 9% (NFL)
36. Brooklyn Nets, $2.3 billion, 28% (NBA)
36. Carolina Panthers, $2.3 billion, 11% (NFL)
38. Los Angeles Chargers, $2.275 billion, 9% (NFL)
39. Arsenal, $2.238 billion, 16% (Soccer)
40. Houston Rockets, $2.2 billion, 33% (NBA)
41. Los Angeles Clippers, $2.15 billion, 7% (NBA)
41. Arizona Cardinals, $2.15 billion, 6% (NFL)
43. New York Mets, $2.1 billion, 5% (MLB)
43. Kansas City Chiefs, $2.1 billion, 12% (NFL)
45. Jacksonville Jaguars, $2.075 billion, 6% (NFL)
46. Chelsea, $2.062 billion, 12% (Soccer)
47. Tennessee Titans, $2.05 billion, 2% (NFL)
48. New Orleans Saints, $2 billion, 14% (NFL)
49. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $1.975 billion, 10% (NFL)
50. Cleveland Browns, $1.95 billion, 5% (NFL)
More Reading:
The Dallas Cowboys Lead The World's Most Valuable Sports Teams 2018
