Early Thursday morning, Forbes released its annual list of 50 Most Valuable Sports Franchises in the world.
Unsurprisingly, the Dallas Cowboys won first place for the ninth year in a row, with a team valued at over $10 billion – the first team to cross that threshold. In fact, it’s the only franchise worth more than $9 million.
THE NFL dominated this year’s rankings, with 29 of their 32 teams earning a spot on the list. Only the Detroit Lions, Buffalo BillsAnd Cincinnati Bengals failed to crack the top 50. Bills was part of last year’s list.
Football clubs were notably absent from the list. Only seven teams made the cut, and the most valuable – Real Madrid – fell out of the top 10, tied for 12th with the Philadelphia Eagles at $6.6 billion. Yet seven European soccer clubs eclipse the number of MLB teams (3) on the list.
Here’s everything you need to know about Forbes’ latest list.
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COWBOYS:‘America’s Team’ becomes first professional sports franchise worth more than $10 billion
“Forbes” List of Most Valuable Sports Teams of 2024
- Dallas Cowboys – $10.1 billion
- Warriors of the Golden State – $8.8 billion
- Los Angeles Rams – $7.6 billion
- New York Yankees – $7.55 billion
- New York Knicks – $7.5 billion
- New England Patriots – $7.4 billion
- New York Giants – $7.3 billion
- Los Angeles Lakers – $7.1 billion
- New York Jets – $6.9 billion
- San Francisco 49ers – $6.8 billion
- Las Vegas Raiders – $6.7 billion
- Philadelphia Eagles – $6.6 billion
- Real Madrid – $6.6 billion
- Manchester United – $6.55 billion
- Chicago Bear – $6.4 billion
- Washington Commanders – $6.3 billion
- Miami Dolphins – $6.2 billion
- Houston Texans – $6.1 billion
- Boston Celtics – 6 billion dollars
- FC Barcelona – $5.6 billion
- Green Bay Packers – $5.6 billion
- Denver Broncos – $5.5 billion
- Los Angeles Clippers – $5.5 billion
- Los Angeles Dodgers – $5.45 billion
- Seattle Seahawks – $5.45 billion
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $5.4 billion
- Liverpool FC – $5.37 billion
- Pittsburgh Steelers – $5.3 billion
- Atlanta Falcons – $5.2 billion
- Cleveland Browns – $5.15 billion
- Los Angeles Chargers – $5.1 billion
- Manchester City– $5.1 billion
- Minnesota Vikings – $5.05 billion
- Baltimore Ravens – 5 billion dollars
- Bayern Munich – 5 billion dollars
- Chicago Bulls – 5 billion dollars
- Houston Rockets – $4.9 billion
- Tennessee Titans – $4.9 billion
- Kansas City Chiefs – $4.85 billion
- Brooklyn fillets – $4.8 billion
- Indianapolis Colts – $4.8 billion
- Dallas Mavericks – $4.7 billion
- Jacksonville Jaguars – $4.6 billion
- Philadelphia 76ers – $4.6 billion
- Boston Red Sox – $4.5 billion
- Carolina Panthers – $4.5 billion
- New Orleans Saints – $4.4 billion
- Paris Saint-Germain – $4.4 billion
- Toronto Raptors – $4.4 billion
- Arizona Cardinals – $4.3 billion
- Phoenix Suns – $4.3 billion
Why aren’t there more football teams?
Forbes notes that while soccer has a much more global reach and appeal, “nothing beats the commercialization of American professional sports.” On average, an NBA team will earn $230 million per year in television contracts, while the average NFL team will earn $380 million. For comparison, one of the most valuable European soccer teams, Atletico Madrid, had a total revenue of $382 million last year. According to Forbesthey are the 13th most valuable football club in the world.
How has the value of franchises increased in recent years?
Professional sports are becoming more and more popular with each passing year. This year alone, the average value of top-50 teams increased from a value of $5.12 billion to $5.78 billion, an increase of nearly 13 percent. In 2015, the average value of each team in the top 50 was just $1.76 billion.
NFL football continues to be the fastest growing game. Just 10 years ago, there were only eight NFL teams in the top 50. Each of the top three spots was once occupied by European soccer teams, but American sports have taken over the global market over the past decade.
Which team has improved the most since last year?
The biggest growth among all professional sports teams between 2023 and 2024 was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who saw their franchise value increase by 29% this year. A year ago, they were 37th on the Forbes list. They are now 26th.
Only four other teams in the top 50 grew more than 20% last year: the Los Angeles Chargers (23%), Brooklyn Nets (25%), Green Bay Packers (22%) and the Boston Celtics. (28%).