The NFL has the most franchises represented in a group collectively worth $289 billion, but an NBA fast break is shaking up the ranking.
By Brett Knight and Justin Teitelbaum, Forbes Staff
For the ninth straight year, the Dallas Cowboys are the world’s most valuable sports team, worth an estimated $10.1 billion—the first to cross the 11-figure threshold and $1.3 billion beyond their closest competition. But there is plenty of movement among the top 50 teams, with 12 NBA franchises now flooding the ranking, double the six on last year’s list and led by the Golden State Warriors, worth an estimated $8.8 billion and No. 2 overall.
To be fair, that increase is due in part to a change in the timing of Forbes’ list, but basketball’s march up the financial leaderboard also reflects real gains by the NBA’s teams. The league’s 30 franchises were worth $4.4 billion on average this year, a 15% increase over 2023 and a staggering 596% jump from a decade ago (a 21% compound annual return). No other sport represented among the 50 most valuable teams comes close to that appreciation.
All of the sports represented on Forbes’ list of the 50 most valuable teams have seen healthy returns, but the NBA’s average team value is growing the fastest, by a wide margin.
The influx of NBA teams comes at the expense of Major League Baseball, which lost two teams in the top 50 (the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants); Formula 1, which had both of its outfits fall out (Ferrari and Mercedes); and the NFL, which is now missing the Buffalo Bills. (Because of a tie at No. 50 this year between the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, six new teams join the ranking while only five teams depart.)
The NFL, however, continues to dominate the list with 29 franchises—58% of the top 50. Soccer, which had eight clubs in the top 50 a decade ago, including the top three spots, now has six teams spread across four leagues, with Real Madrid of Spain’s La Liga leading the way at $6.6 billion, tied for 12th overall.
Pro football accounts for more than half of the 50 most valuable sports teams, with only three NFL teams missing the cut.
While Europe’s elite soccer teams may have unbeatable global reach, nothing tops the commercialization of American pro sports, starting with their media deals. The NBA’s national TV agreements, signed in July and taking effect next season, are reportedly worth $76 billion over 11 years, translating to an average annual payout of $230 million per team. Each NFL team, meanwhile, will receive roughly $380 million per year on average across the life of the league’s national media rights package, which altogether is set to pay at least $125.5 billion through 2033.
Consider that Atlético Madrid of La Liga—which is not among the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams but ranked 13th among soccer clubs on Forbes’ 2024 list—had $382 million in revenue last season, from all sources, according to Forbes estimates. Or simply look at Manchester City, which has piled up four straight titles in England’s powerful Premier League plus the 2023 Champions League trophy. The club is now worth $5.1 billion—tying it at No. 31 in the world ranking with the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, who are only the fifth-most-valuable franchise in their home market, behind the Rams, Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
A Decade of Dominance
From first to last, the top 50 sports teams have seen their values skyrocket over the past 10 years.
Combined, the 50 most valuable teams are worth just under $289 billion, or an average of roughly $5.8 billion, up 13% from 2023. The cutoff is also at record levels, rising 16% to $4.3 billion from last year’s $3.7 billion. In fact, this year’s last-place team would have been No. 1 just seven years ago, when the Cowboys led the ranking at $4.2 billion.
World’s 50 Most Valuable Teams 2024
#1. $10.1 B
Dallas Cowboys
League: NFL | Owner: Jerry Jones | One-Year Change: 12% | 2023 Rank: 1
CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys.
Diamond Images/Getty Images
#2. $8.8 B
Golden State Warriors
League: NBA | Owners: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber | One-Year Change: 14% | 2023 Rank: 3
#3. $7.6 B
Los Angeles Rams
League: NFL | Owner: E. Stanley Kroenke | One-Year Change: 10% | 2023 Rank: 5
#4. $7.55 B
New York Yankees
League: MLB | Owner: Steinbrenner family | One-Year Change: 6% | 2023 Rank: 2
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.
MLB Photos/Getty Images
#5. $7.5 B
New York Knicks
League: NBA | Owner: Madison Square Garden Sports | One-Year Change: 14% | 2023 Rank: 9
#6. $7.4 B
New England Patriots
League: NFL | Owner: Robert Kraft | One-Year Change: 6% | 2023 Rank: 3
#7. $7.3 B
New York Giants
League: NFL | Owners: John Mara, Steven Tisch | One-Year Change: 7% | 2023 Rank: 6
#8. $7.1 B
Los Angeles Lakers
League: NBA | Owners: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Mark Walter, Todd Boehly | One-Year Change: 11% | 2023 Rank: 15
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Justin Ford/Getty Images
#9. $6.9 B
New York Jets
League: NFL | Owner: Johnson family | One-Year Change: 13% | 2023 Rank: 9
#10. $6.8 B
San Francisco 49ers
League: NFL | Owner: York family | One-Year Change: 13% | 2023 Rank: 13
#11. $6.7 B
Las Vegas Raiders
League: NFL | Owner: Mark Davis | One-Year Change: 8% | 2023 Rank: 8
#12 (tie). $6.6 B
Philadelphia Eagles
League: NFL | Owner: Jeffrey Lurie | One-Year Change: 14% | 2023 Rank: 16
#12 (tie). $6.6 B
Real Madrid
League: La Liga | Owner: club members | One-Year Change: 9% | 2023 Rank: 11
Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid.
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
#14. $6.55 B
Manchester United
League: Premier League | Owners: Glazer family, James Ratcliffe | One-Year Change: 9% | 2023 Rank: 13
#15. $6.4 B
Chicago Bears
League: NFL | Owner: McCaskey family | One-Year Change: 2% | 2023 Rank: 7
#16. $6.3 B
Washington Commanders
League: NFL | Owner: Josh Harris | One-Year Change: 4% | 2023 Rank: 12
#17. $6.2 B
Miami Dolphins
League: NFL | Owner: Stephen Ross | One-Year Change: 9% | 2023 Rank: 17
Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins.
Perry Knotts/Getty Images
#18. $6.1 B
Houston Texans
League: NFL | Owner: Cal McNair | One-Year Change: 11% | 2023 Rank: 19
#19. $6 B
Boston Celtics
League: NBA | Owners: Wycliffe Grousbeck, Irving Grousbeck, Stephen Pagliuca, Robert Epstein | One-Year Change: 28% | 2023 Rank: 43
#20 (tie). $5.6 B
Barcelona
League: La Liga | Owner: club members | One-Year Change: 2% | 2023 Rank: 18
Robert Lewandowski of FC Barcelona.
David Ramos/Getty Images
#20. $5.6 B
Green Bay Packers
League: NFL | Owner: shareholders | One-Year Change: 22% | 2023 Rank: 31
#22 (tie). $5.5 B
Denver Broncos
League: NFL | Owner: Greg Penner | One-Year Change: 8% | 2023 Rank: 21
#22 (tie). $5.5 B
Los Angeles Clippers
League: NBA | Owner: Steve Ballmer | One-Year Change: 18% | 2023 Rank: 45
#24 (tie). $5.45 B
Los Angeles Dodgers
League: MLB | Owner: Guggenheim Baseball Management | One-Year Change: 14% | 2023 Rank: 25
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Harry How/Getty Images
#24 (tie). $5.45 B
Seattle Seahawks
League: NFL | Owner: Paul G. Allen Trust | One-Year Change: 9% | 2023 Rank: 22
#26. $5.4 B
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
League: NFL | Owner: Glazer family | One-Year Change: 29% | 2023 Rank: 37
#27. $5.37 B
Liverpool
League: Premier League | Owners: John Henry, Tom Werner | One-Year Change: 2% | 2023 Rank: 20
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool.
Andrew Powell/Getty Images
#28. $5.3 B
Pittsburgh Steelers
League: NFL | Owners: Arthur Rooney II, Daniel Rooney Trust | One-Year Change: 15% | 2023 Rank: 29
#29. $5.2 B
Atlanta Falcons
League: NFL | Owner: Arthur Blank | One-Year Change: 11% | 2023 Rank: 26
#30. $5.15 B
Cleveland Browns
League: NFL | Owner: Dee and Jimmy Haslam | One-Year Change: 11% | 2023 Rank: 30
#31 (tie). $5.1 B
Los Angeles Chargers
League: NFL | Owner: Dean Spanos | One-Year Change: 23% | 2023 Rank: 38
#31 (tie). $5.1 B
Manchester City
League: Premier League | Owner: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan | One-Year Change: 2% | 2023 Rank: 23
#33. $5.05 B
Minnesota Vikings
League: NFL | Owner: Zygmunt Wilf | One-Year Change: 9% | 2023 Rank: 27
Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
#34 (tie). $5 B
Baltimore Ravens
League: NFL | Owner: Stephen Biscotti | One-Year Change: 8% | 2023 Rank: 28
#34 (tie). $5 B
Bayern Munich
League: Bundesliga | Owner: club members | One-Year Change: 3% | 2023 Rank: 24
#34 (tie). $5 B
Chicago Bulls
League: NBA | Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf | One-Year Change: 9% | 2023 Rank: 39
#37 (tie). $4.9 B
Houston Rockets
League: NBA | Owner: Tilman Fertitta | One-Year Change: 11% | 2023 Rank: —
#37 (tie). $4.9 B
Tennessee Titans
League: NFL | Owner: Amy Adams Strunk | One-Year Change: 11% | 2023 Rank: 33
#39. $4.85 B
Kansas City Chiefs
League: NFL | Owner: Hunt family | One-Year Change: 13% | 2023 Rank: 35
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
David Eulitt/Getty Images
#40 (tie). $4.8 B
Brooklyn Nets
League: NBA | Owners: Joseph Tsai, Koch family | One-Year Change: 25% | 2023 Rank: —
#40 (tie). $4.8 B
Indianapolis Colts
League: NFL | Owner: James Irsay | One-Year Change: 10% | 2023 Rank: 34
#42. $4.7 B
Dallas Mavericks
League: NBA | Owners: Adelson family, Mark Cuban | One-Year Change: 4% | 2023 Rank: —
#43 (tie). $4.6 B
Jacksonville Jaguars
League: NFL | Owner: Shahid Khan | One-Year Change: 15% | 2023 Rank: 43
#43 (tie). $4.6 B
Philadelphia 76ers
League: NBA | Owners: Josh Harris, David Blitzer | One-Year Change: 7% | 2023 Rank: —
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
#45 (tie). $4.5 B
Boston Red Sox
League: MLB | Owners: John Henry, Tom Werner | One-Year Change: 0% | 2023 Rank: 32
#45 (tie). $4.5 B
Carolina Panthers
League: NFL | Owner: David Tepper | One-Year Change: 10% | 2023 Rank: 39
#47 (tie). $4.4 B
New Orleans Saints
League: NFL | Owner: Gayle Benson | One-Year Change: 8% | 2023 Rank: 42
#47 (tie). $4.4 B
Paris Saint-Germain
League: Ligue 1 | Owner: Qatar Sports Investments | One-Year Change: 4% | 2023 Rank: 36
#47 (tie). $4.4 B
Toronto Raptors
League: NBA | Owners: Rogers Communications, Larry Tanenbaum | One-Year Change: 7% | 2023 Rank: —
Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors.
Cole Burston/Getty Images
#50 (tie). $4.3 B
Arizona Cardinals
League: NFL | Owner: Michael Bidwill | One-Year Change: 13% | 2023 Rank: 47
#50 (tie). $4.3 B
Phoenix Suns
League: NBA | Owners: Mat Ishbia, Justin Ishbia | One-Year Change: 8% | 2023 Rank: —
METHODOLOGY
The 50 Most Valuable Teams are culled from Forbes’ most recent Formula 1, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and soccer team valuations. The team values are enterprise values (equity plus net debt) and include the economics of each team’s stadium but not the value of the stadium real estate itself. Similarly, the values include rights fees from regional sports networks owned by the team but not the value of the RSNs themselves; equity stakes in other sports-related assets and mixed-use real estate projects are also excluded. For appraisals that include all sports-related assets, see Forbes’ 2024 ranking of the most valuable sports empires. All figures are in U.S. dollars.
