Forbes Most Valuable Franchises: Cowboys on top, NFL dominating
The Dallas Cowboys ($4 billion) swapped places with Real Madrid ($3.26 billion) on top of the Forbes list of the most valuable franchises released Monday, but “America’s Team” wasn’t the only NFL franchise to make a big jump in value.
The NFL showed its dominance in America and ever-growing influence across the world. New England (3.2 billion) ranked third, ahead of the New York Yankees and FC Barcelona. The Cowboys and Patriots weren’t the only NFL teams to rise in wealth, though. The Forbes report showed all pro football franchises were on average 38 percent more valuable in 2015 than the year previous, with an average worth of $1.97 billion. Even more impressive, income before deductions for all 32 teams averaged $76 million in 2014.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, remained atop the list of NFL franchises, but had a value increase of $800 million. Last year, the Cowboys set a record for revenue ($620 million!) in a single year for a U.S. sports team, according to Forbes.
It’s easy to see how enamored Americans are with football, and the NFL has continued to grow in popularity (despite its countless legal setbacks) and value. TV rights are now in the billions of dollars, and deservedly so. In 2014, the NFL was the most watched sport in America. This season’s opening weekend TV ratings set a new record, averaging 19.9 million viewers across all four networks.
Stadiums are being replaced and renovated across the league, increasing revenue for teams via new luxury suites and high-end features. Five stadiums have opened in the last 10 years, and both Atlanta and Minnesota will debut new, state-of-the-art stadiums in 2017.
San Francisco opened Levi’s Stadium a season ago, and despite missing the playoffs and losing a significant amount of players in the offseason, jumped up four spots from a year ago to number five. The ’9ers are valued at $2.7 billion, up from $1.6 billion. Revenue from Levi’s Stadium (tickets, concessions, suite rentals) were 160 percent better than in 2013 at Candlestick Park.
The Giants and Jets, both in the top 10 most valuable, play in MetLife Stadium, built in 2010 with many of the same suite and club amenities that AT&T Stadium features. Teams like Indianapolis and Arizona play in stadiums built just before Jerry’s World opened in 2009. Still, the new stadiums help both teams increase revenue and attract other major events in the offseason.
The NFL has supplanted its status as the number one league in America, but each year that passes shows that there is only room for profits to grow. Even the Yankees, who have been around since before anyone can remember, can’t compete with the Patriots’ dominance of recent past. Even Spygate and Deflategate couldn’t derail the surge of arguably the most popular current professional sports team.
Once again, the NFL shows that it is the dominant sport in American culture and it isn’t even close. Now, if you excuse me, I have to set my fantasy football lineup before the games start.
