According to a report from Forbes, the Dallas Cowboys remain the most valuable sports team in the world in the year 2021. The NFL outfit has long been one of the most profitable organizations since it was bought over by Jerry Jones in 1989 and, as of May 2021, was ranked the biggest club in the world in terms of value.
Forbes’ report notes that the value of 50 of the most valuable teams went up by 9.9 percent from last year to $3.4 billion and up 55 percent from the last half-decade. The Cowboys haven’t been very successful over the last few years and understanding NFL odds would be all that’s needed to know they aren’t expected to challenge for much next term. Despite what they bring to the field, the Cowboys are valued at $5.7 billion and are likely to see that increase over the next year.
The MLB’s New York Yankees are the second most valuable at a valuation of $5.25 billion, with the New York Knicks of the NBA third in such regard at a straight $5 billion. Spanish soccer clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid managed to knock the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors out of the top five as they’re both valued at just below $4.7 million.
Teams bring in revenue in a number of ways and don’t have to take to a pitch, court, or field to generate cash. Billionaire owners are spending more and more to make even more profit from their clubs. While a lot of money is earned through ticket sales, advertising revenue and various other contracts are responsible for lots of the wealth teams attract.
Take the Cowboys for example. Jones, who has a personal net worth of $8.8 billion, bought the team for $150 million and has since made additions such as luxury boxes, a new corporate headquarters, and a practice facility called The Star. In addition to several big-ticket amenities, there’s a merchandising business and licensing arrangement with the NFL, as well as an equity stake in the stadium management company, Legends. A platform has also been set up to support youth sports while investment in esports, a very profitable avenue, has been undertaken.
The team registered record franchise numbers in the 2019 season, raking in $425 million in operating profits on revenue of $980 million.
The Steinbrenner family, who bought the Yankees for $8.8 million in 1973, have formed Yankee Global Enterprises, which owns 20 percent of the MLS’s New York City FC and is the largest equity holder in YES. They’ve also got a chunk of Legends.
The 50 teams on Forbes’ 2021 list are only from four sports, with 26 from football, nine from basketball, nine from soccer and six from baseball. All of the organizations benefit pretty heavily from media rights deals, which are growing by the year.
England’s Premier League has the biggest such deal in soccer, drawing $2.18 billion on a yearly basis. The PL has five teams on the list, the most of any football league around.
The NFL secured a 10-year television rights deal worth $10.3 billion a year that will kick off in 2023. The staggering figure represents an 80 percent increase from the deal that obtains at the moment. The MLB, meanwhile, has gotten a 19 percent increase and will receive around $1.84 billion a year beginning next season.
As for the NBA, America’s pro basketball league will rake in an average of $2.6 billion a year from 2024/25 from its current deal while the NHL will only make $625 million from rights deals this season and has no teams on Forbes’ list.
All money earned from television rights deals in the U.S is shared equally between the teams in the various leagues.
That was the idea behind the very quickly defunct European Super League the top soccer clubs in Europe tried to set up earlier this year. 12 founding clubs – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, and Internazionale Milan – attempted to defect from the UEFA Champions League back in April but things came crashing overnight after fans revolted and clubs began backing out.
Had it been successful, the Super League would have eliminated European soccer’s age-old tradition of competing for league placement every season, something not practiced by sports leagues in the United States. The 12 founders would have also seen their collective value rise by a collective $12.7 billion and Barcelona would have knocked the Cowboys off the No.1 spot for the first time in six years. However, that is not the case right now, with most of the clubs involved taking an apologetic stance.
