f you’re wondering just how pandemic-resistant the world’s leading sports franchises are, look no further than Fred Wilpon’s New York Mets. The Amazin’s, the No. 2 team in Major League Baseball’s most valuable market, were put in play by Wilpon in February after nearly two decades of ownership, putting them on track to be the first big-market Major League Baseball franchise to be sold in eight years.
They are hardly a crown jewel. Wilpon was reluctant to keep pace with the league’s rising payrolls, leaving the Mets without a World Series win since 1986 and bleeding cash long before the coronavirus eliminated more than half the season and all of the franchise’s stadium revenues.
That hasn’t stopped an all-star list of buyers from kicking the tires, including hedge-fund titan Steve Cohen and private-equity guru Josh Harris, one of whom will likely end up paying more than $2 billion for the franchise, one of 57 teams worth at least that amount. A decade ago, there was only one that came even close: U.K. soccer club Manchester United, which was the most valuable team on earth in 2010 at $1.83 billion.
That honor now belongs to the Dallas Cowboys, who top the Forbes ranking of the 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams for the fifth straight year, at $5.5 billion, edging out the $5 billion New York Yankees. For Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New York’s Steinbrenner family, it may as well be paper profit. Only one team in the top 35—MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, in 2012—has changed hands in the past decade, which explains how the Mets, No. 41 at $2.4 billion, became one of the hottest tickets in sports.
“There is no lack of multi-billionaires that want to get into the sports business right now,” says Sal Galatioto, whose namesake investment firm has handled team transactions for the Chicago Cubs, the Golden State Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and other marquee sports properties. “People will pay a premium. They buy these teams not just on the numbers, but on the brand value.”
That value is dominated by the NFL, even after a ten-year run by the NBA lifted its average team value nearly sixfold, more than any other U.S. sports league. Football claims 27 spots on the ranking, a reflection not only of its massive stadium draws but also its TV appeal. Of the 100 top broadcasts in 2019, 88 were sporting events and 73 were NFL games. The NFL’s current U.S. TV rights are worth $6.5 billion on average per year, a number expected to nearly double in a new deal currently being hashed out, according to sports media consultant Lee Berke of LHB Sports. To help afford it, Fox even backed out of a 12-year deal to broadcast golf’s U.S. Open, with the savings expected to help bankroll a potential $2 billion-a-year NFL deal.
The NBA comes second with nine teams on the list, including three in the top five—the New York Knicks ($4.6 billion), the Los Angeles Lakers ($4.4 billion) and the Golden State Warriors ($4.3 billion)—with the Brooklyn Nets in hot pursuit after Alibaba billionaire Joe Tsai finalized a $3.3 billion deal for the franchise and operating rights to the Barclays Center last year. Three European soccer teams cracked the top ten this year, led by Real Madrid at $4.2 billion. The NHL is a no-show once again, which is not surprising for a league whose lower-tier teams are passed around like joints at a Grateful Dead show, including five Arizona Coyotes sales in 15 years.
The pain worsens even further down the food chain. Stakes held by limited partners of major teams already come with a discount of 20% or more to controlling stakes and could face pressure if some partners begin looking to offload their interests to raise cash for other businesses that may be ailing because of the spread of Covid-19. A number of minor league baseball teams are on the verge of bankruptcy while Vince McMahon’s XFL startup folded after suspending its season in March.
The pandemic shutdown hasn’t been good for any owner, but the ones holding on to the top brands are unlikely to be moved. The Cowboys delivered Jones operating profits of $420 million in 2018. While that is a record for a sports franchise, the league average is $102 million, which is why its average ownership tenure is four decades, with only one team changing hands in the past five years, a backlog of demand that is far from being met.
“It could take 30 years,” says Galatioto, who knows at least half a dozen multi-billionaires looking to buy an NFL franchise. “That scarcity factor holds values up.”
1. Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
Value: $5.5 billion
Owner: Jerry Jones
Year Purchased: 1989
Price Paid: $150 million
2. New York Yankees (MLB)
Value: $5 billion
Owner: Steinbrenner family
Year Purchased: 1973
Price Paid: $8.8 million
3. New York Knicks (NBA)
Value: $4.6 billion
Owner: Madison Square Garden Company
Year Purchased: 1997
Price Paid: $300 million
4. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
Value: $4.4 billion
Owner: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Philip Anschutz
Year Purchased: 1979, 1998
Price Paid: $20 million, $268 million
5. Golden State Warriors (NBA)
Value: $4.3 billion
Owner: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber
Year Purchased: 2010
Price Paid: $450 million
6. Real Madrid (soccer)
Value: $4.24 billion
Owner: club members
Year Purchased: not applicable
7. New England Patriots (NFL)
Value: $4.1 billion
Owner: Robert Kraft
Year Purchased: 1994
Price Paid: $172 million
8. Barcelona (soccer)
Value: $4.02 billion
Owner: club members
Year Purchased: not applicable
9. New York Giants (NFL)
Value: $3.9 billion
Owner: John Mara, Steven Tisch
Year Purchased: 1925, 1991
Price Paid: $500, $150 million
10. Manchester United (soccer)
Value: $3.81 billion
Owner: Glazer family
Year Purchased: 2005
Price Paid: $1.4 billion
11. Los Angeles Rams (NFL)
Value: $3.8 billion
Owner: E. Stanley Kroenke
Year Purchased: 2010
Price Paid: $750 million
12. San Francisco 49ers (NFL)
Value: $3.5 billion
Owner: Denise DeBartolo & John York
Year Purchased: 1977
Price Paid: $13 million
13. Chicago Bears (NFL)
Value: $3.45 billion
Owner: McCaskey family
Year Purchased: 1920
Price Paid: $100
14 (tie). Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)
Value: $3.4 billion
Owner: Guggenheim Baseball Management
Year Purchased: 2012
Price Paid: $2 billion
14 (tie). Washington Football Team (NFL)
Value: $3.4 billion
Owner: Daniel Snyder
Year Purchased: 1999
Price Paid: $750 million
16. Boston Red Sox (MLB)
Value: $3.3 billion
Owner: John Henry, Thomas Werner
Year Purchased: 2002
Price Paid: $380 million
17 (tie). Chicago Bulls (NBA)
Value: $3.2 billion
Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf
Year Purchased: 1985
Price Paid: $16.2 million
17 (tie). Chicago Cubs (MLB)
Value: $3.2 billion
Owner: Ricketts family
Year Purchased: 2009
Price Paid: $700 million
17 (tie). New York Jets (NFL)
Value: $3.2 billion
Owner: Johnson family
Year Purchased: 2000
Price Paid: $635 million
20 (tie). Boston Celtics (NBA)
Value: $3.1 billion
Owner: Wycliffe & Irving Grousbeck, Robert Epstein, Stephen Pagliuca
Year Purchased: 2002
Price Paid: $360 million
20 (tie). Houston Texans (NFL)
Value: $3.1 billion
Owner: Janice McNair
Year Purchased: 1999
Price Paid: $600 million
20 (tie). San Francisco Giants (MLB)
Value: $3.1 billion
Owner: Charles Johnson
Year Purchased: 1993
Price Paid: $100 million
23. Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)
Value: $3.05 billion
Owner: Jeffrey Lurie
Year Purchased: 1994
Price Paid: $185 million
24. Bayern Munich (soccer)
Value: $3.02 billion
Owner: club members
Year Purchased: not applicable
25. Denver Broncos (NFL)
Value: $3 billion
Owner: Pat Bowlen Trust
Year Purchased: 1984
Price Paid: $78 million
26. Oakland Raiders (NFL)
Value: $2.9 billion
Owner: Mark Davis
Year Purchased: 1966
Price Paid: $180,000
27. Green Bay Packers (NFL)
Value: $2.85 billion
Owner: shareholder-owned
Year Purchased: 1921
Price Paid: $100
28. Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)
Value: $2.8 billion
Owner: Daniel Rooney Trust, Arthur Rooney II
Year Purchased: 1933
Price Paid: $2,500
29. Seattle Seahawks (NFL)
Value: $2.78 billion
Owner: Paul G. Allen Trust
Year Purchased: 1997
Price Paid: $194 million
30. Miami Dolphins (NFL)
Value: $2.76 billion
Owner: Stephen Ross
Year Purchased: 2008
Price Paid: $1.1 billion
31. Atlanta Falcons (NFL)
Value: $2.755 billion
Owner: Arthur Blank
Year Purchased: 2002
Price Paid: $545 million
32. Baltimore Ravens (NFL)
Value: $2.75 billion
Owner: Stephen Bisciotti
Year Purchased: 2004
Price Paid: $600 million
33. Minnesota Vikings (NFL)
Value: $2.7 billion
Owner: Zygmunt Wilf
Year Purchased: 2005
Price Paid: $600 million
34. Manchester City (soccer)
Value: $2.69 billion
Owner: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Year Purchased: 2008
Price Paid: $385 million
35. Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Value: $2.65 billion
Owner: James Irsay
Year Purchased: 1972
Price Paid: $14 million
36. Los Angeles Clippers (NBA)
Value: $2.6 billion
Owner: Steve Ballmer
Year Purchased: 2014
Price Paid: $2 billion
37. Chelsea (soccer)
Value: $2.58 billion
Owner: Roman Abramovich
Year Purchased: 2003
Price Paid: $233 million
38 (tie). Brooklyn Nets (NBA)
Value: $2.5 billion
Owner: Joseph Tsai
Year Purchased: 2019
Price Paid: $3.3 billion
38 (tie). Los Angeles Chargers (NFL)
Value: $2.5 billion
Owner: Dean A. Spanos
Year Purchased: 1984
Price Paid: $72 million
40. Houston Rockets (NBA)
Value: $2.48 billion
Owner: Tilman Fertitta
Year Purchased: 2017
Price Paid: $2.2 billion
41 (tie). Carolina Panthers (NFL)
Value: $2.4 billion
Owner: David Tepper
Year Purchased: 2018
Price Paid: $2.28 billion
41 (tie). Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Value: $2.4 billion
Owner: Mark Cuban
Year Purchased: 2000
Price Paid: $280 million
41 (tie). New York Mets (MLB)
Value: $2.4 billion
Owner: Fred & Jeff Wilpon, Saul Katz
Year Purchased: 2002
Price Paid: $391 million
44. Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)
Value: $2.33 billion
Owner: Shahid Khan
Year Purchased: 2011
Price Paid: $770 million
45. Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)
Value: $2.3 billion
Owner: Lamar Hunt Family
Year Purchased: 1960
Price Paid: $25,000
46. New Orleans Saints (NFL)
Value: $2.28 billion
Owner: Gayle Benson
Year Purchased: 1985
Price Paid: $70.2 million
47. Arsenal (soccer)
Value: $2.27 billion
Owner: E. Stanley Kroenke
Year Purchased: 2011
Price Paid: $1.1 billion
48. Arizona Cardinals (NFL)
Value: $2.25 billion
Owner: William Bidwill
Year Purchased: 1932
Price Paid: $50,000
49 (tie). St Louis Cardinals (MLB)
Value: $2.2 billion
Owner: William DeWitt Jr.
Year Purchased: 1996
Price Paid: $150 million
49 (tie). Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL)
Value: $2.2 billion
Owner: Glazer family
Year Purchased: 1995
Price Paid: $192 million
