America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys, has once again topped the rankings of the NFL’s most valuable franchises. According to Sportico, a company dedicated to the business side of the sport, the Cowboys have an estimated worth of $7.64 billion.
Sportico, which got its evaluations by crunching numbers and interviewing 30 bankers, lawyers, team executives, owners, and consultants, says that the Cowboys are also the most valuable franchise in whole of sports. The only team that comes close is MLB’s New York Yankees, who are valued at $630 million less.
The Cowboys have a number of other ventures besides just their football team, which certainly helped to drive the value up. The Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots, which are second and third on the list with $5.91 billion and $5.88 billion, respectively, follow the same recipe and are active in the real estate business and other industries.
“Sports may not be for everybody, but for those who do love it, it is real fertile ground,” Stephen Jones, Cowboys COO, told Sportico in an interview. “Whether it’s a Legends platform, a real estate platform, a technology platform, we’ve seen that you can use The Star, the Cowboys, and sports to really enhance business.”
According to Sportico, an average NFL franchise is now 18% more valuable than the year before, with the average value standing at $4.1 billion. There are currently 18 teams valued below this number and four teams valued below $3 billion. The cheapest NFL franchise at the moment is Cincinnati Bengals, with a tag of $2.84 billion.
