Billionaire Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the end zone at AT&T Stadium.
By most measures, the past year hasn’t been a good one for elite sports. Curtailed seasons. Canceled tournaments. And everything from Major League Baseball to global soccer played out in empty venues.
A Super Bowl hailed as “one for the ages” turned into a blowout, with TV viewership the lowest since 2007. Two months later, the NCAA’s March Madness tournament returned but without its four most powerful teams—and four of its biggest draws—its own ratings celebrated for avoiding the steep declines of other events.
Then, with news of the massive financial woes at FC Barcelona still fresh, the world’s most valuable soccer team and 11 other European clubs stunned the sports world by announcing a breakaway Super League that aimed to grab more revenue but fizzled within days as the owners’ rebellion succumbed to global ridicule. Now, as the industry struggles to rebound from the pandemic shutdowns of 2020, there is talk that the Tokyo Olympics are at risk of being canceled, a year after they were postponed.
None of these events, nor the pandemic itself, has done much to hurt the owners of the leading sports franchises.
The average value of the 50 most valuable sports teams has jumped 9.9% from last year, to $3.4 billion, up 55% from five years ago. The Dallas Cowboys once again claim the top spot with a valuation of $5.7 billion, followed by the New York Yankees at $5.25 billion. The NBA’s New York Knicks round out the top three at $5 billion. European soccer clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, each with a valuation just above $4.7 billion, nudged the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors out of the top five.
It’s not just the games they play that are bringing those returns. The billionaire owners, who pay ever-larger sums for their trophy assets, have proved they are adept at finding ways to mine those trophies for value.
Take Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (net worth: $8.8 billion). He bought the franchise in 1989 for $150 million and has since added a number of big-ticket amenities, including a modern stadium stacked with luxury boxes, a new corporate headquarters and practice facility called The Star, a merchandising business and licensing arrangement with the NFL, and an equity stake in the stadium management company Legends, as well as investments in e-sports and a platform built to support youth sports. The team delivered operating profits of $425 million on revenue of $980 million in the 2019 season, record results for the franchise.
Those numbers look even better for the Steinbrenner family, which bought MLB’s New York Yankees for $8.8 million in 1973 and have since added Yankee Global Enterprises (which owns 20% of Major League Soccer’s New York City FC), become the largest equity holder in YES (the most-watched regional sports network in the country) and picked up a piece of Legends.
The 50 teams on this year’s list come from four sports—football (26), basketball (9), soccer (9) and baseball (6)—all of which are propelled by ever-escalating media rights deals, the single biggest factor to land in the top 50. The Premier League leads the soccer world with a domestic media rights deal worth $2.18 billion annually and is the best-represented soccer league on the ranking, with five teams. The NFL recently licensed a decade of TV rights for $10.3 billion a year starting in 2023, an 80% increase over the current deal. MLB will get an average of $1.84 billion a year from its national media deals beginning next season, a 19% increase, while the NBA will take in an average of $2.6 billion a year through 2024-25 on its current deal. The NHL, meanwhile, inked media deals that will pay it just $625 million a year beginning with the 2021-22 season and has no teams in the top 50. All of the U.S. leagues share that revenue equally among their franchises.
That kind of economic security was at the heart of the plans for the Super League, which had owners eliminating soccer’s tradition of making clubs compete every season for league placement, something U.S. leagues do not do. With that guarantee—and the media spoils that would flow from it—the 12 founding clubs of the Super League would have jumped in value by a collective $12.7 billion, according to Forbes’ analysis, and Barcelona would have knocked the Cowboys out of the No. 1 spot for the first time in six years.
Still, the beautiful game is holding its own. Three soccer clubs rank among the six teams that have more than doubled in value the past five years: Paris Saint-Germain (207%), Liverpool (165%) and Manchester City (108%). The other three—the Los Angeles Rams (176%), the Golden State Warriors (147%) and the Las Vegas Raiders (117%)—owe that appreciation to new stadiums. The biggest one-year change in value among the U.S. franchises—Forbes did not value soccer clubs in 2020—was shared by the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks, all of who rose 11% from last year’s ranking.
Getty Images
• Value: $5.7 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 43%
• Owner: Jerry Jones
• Year Purchased: 1989
• Price Paid: $150 million
• Value: $5.25 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 54%
• Owner: Steinbrenner family
• Year Purchased: 1973
• Price Paid: $8.8 million
• Value: $5 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 67%
• Owner: Madison Square Garden Sports
• Year Purchased: 1997
• Price Paid: $300 million
• Value: $4.76 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 34%
• Owner: club members
• Year Purchased: not applicable
• Price Paid: not applicable
David Ramos/Getty Images
• Value: $4.75 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 30%
• Owner: club members
• Year Purchased: not applicable
• Price Paid: not applicable
• Value: $4.7 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 147%
• Owner: Joe Lacob, Peter Gruber
• Year Purchased: 2010
• Price Paid: $450 million
• Value: $4.6 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 70%
• Owner: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Philip Anschutz
• Year Purchased: 1979, 1998
• Price Paid: $20 million, $268 million
• Value: $4.4 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 38%
• Owner: Robert Kraft
• Year Purchased: 1994
• Price Paid: $172 million
• Value: $4.3 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 54%
• Owner: John Mara, Steven Tisch
• Year Purchased: 1925, 1991
• Price Paid: $500, $150 million
Andreas Bergert/Getty Images
• Value: $4.21 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 57%
• Owner: club members
• Year Purchased: not applicable
• Price Paid: not applicable
• Value: $4.2 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 27%
• Owner: Glazer family
• Year Purchased: 2005
• Price Paid: $1.4 billion
• Value: $4.1 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 165%
• Owner: John Henry, Tom Werner
• Year Purchased: 2010
• Price Paid: $476 million
• Value: $4 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 176%
• Owner: Stanley Kroenke
• Year Purchased: 2010
• Price Paid: $750 million
• Value: $4 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 108%
• Owner: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
• Year Purchased: 2008
• Price Paid: $385 million
• Value: $3.8 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 41%
• Owner: Denise DeBartolo York, John York
• Year Purchased: 1977
• Price Paid: $13 million
harry how/Getty Images
• Value: $3.57 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 43%
• Owner: Guggenheim Baseball Management
• Year Purchased: 2012
• Price Paid: $2 billion
• Value: $3.55 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 37%
• Owner: Johnson family
• Year Purchased: 2000
• Price Paid: $635 million
• Value: $3.53 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 44%
• Owner: McCaskey family
• Year Purchased: 1920
• Price Paid: $100
• Value: $3.5 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 23%
• Owner: Daniel Snyder
• Year Purchased: 1999
• Price Paid: $750 million
Billie Weiss/boston red sox/Getty Images
• Value: $3.47 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 51%
• Owner: John Henry, Tom Werner
• Year Purchased: 2002
• Price Paid: $380 million
• Value: $3.4 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 42%
• Owner: Jeffrey Lurie
• Year Purchased: 1994
• Price Paid: $185 million
• Value: $3.36 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 53%
• Owner: Ricketts family
• Year Purchased: 2009
• Price Paid: $700 million
• Value: $3.3 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 32%
• Owner: Janice McNair
• Year Purchased: 1999
• Price Paid: $700 million
• Value: $3.3 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 43%
• Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf
• Year Purchased: 1985
• Price Paid: $16.2 million
• Value: $3.2 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 65%
• Owner: Pat Bowlen Trust
• Year Purchased: 1984
• Price Paid: $78 million
Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
• Value: $3.2 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 52%
• Owner: Wycliffe Grousbeck, Irving Grousbeck, Robert Epstein, Stephen Pagliuca
• Year Purchased: 2002
• Price Paid: $360 million
• Value: $3.2 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 93%
• Owner: Roman Abramovich
• Year Purchased: 2003
• Price Paid: $233 million
• Value: $3.18 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 41%
• Owner: Charles Johnson
• Year Purchased: 1993
• Price Paid: $100 million
• Value: $3.1 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 117%
• Owner: Mark Davis
• Year Purchased: 1966
• Price Paid: $180,000
Sportswire/getty images
• Value: $3.08 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 64%
• Owner: Paul G. Allen Trust
• Year Purchased: 1997
• Price Paid: $194 million
• Value: $3.05 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 56%
• Owner: shareholders
• Year Purchased: 1921
• Price Paid: $100
• Value: $3 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 58%
• Owner: Daniel Rooney Trust, Arthur Rooney II
• Year Purchased: 1933
• Price Paid: $2,500
• Value: $2.98 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 54%
• Owner: Stephen Bisciotti
• Year Purchased: 2004
• Price Paid: $600 million
• Value: $2.95 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 86%
• Owner: Zygmunt Wilf
• Year Purchased: 2005
• Price Paid: $600 million
ethan miller/Getty Images
• Value: $2.9 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 57%
• Owner: Stephen Ross
• Year Purchased: 2009
• Price Paid: $1.1 billion
• Value: $2.88 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 72%
• Owner: Arthur Blank
• Year Purchased: 2002
• Price Paid: $545 million
• Value: $2.85 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 52%
• Owner: James Irsay
• Year Purchased: 1972
• Price Paid: $14 million
• Value: $2.8 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 39%
• Owner: Stanley Kroenke
• Year Purchased: 2011
• Price Paid: $1.1 billion
• Value: $2.75 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 38%
• Owner: Steve Ballmer
• Year Purchased: 2014
• Price Paid: $2 billion
Jim McIsaac/getty images
• Value: $2.65 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 56%
• Owner: Joseph Tsai
• Year Purchased: 2019
• Price Paid: $3.2 billion
• Value: $2.6 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 70%
• Owner: Dean Spanos
• Year Purchased: 1984
• Price Paid: $72 million
• Value: $2.55 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 63%
• Owner: David Tepper
• Year Purchased: 2018
• Price Paid: $2.28 billion
• Value: $2.5 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 63%
• Owner: Hunt family
• Year Purchased: 1960
• Price Paid: $25,000
• Value: $2.5 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 67%
• Owner: Tilman Fertitta
• Year Purchased: 2017
• Price Paid: $2.2 billion
Alex grimm/Getty Images
• Value: $2.5 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 207%
• Owner: Qatar Sports Investments
• Year Purchased: 2011
• Price Paid: $100 million
• Value: $2.48 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 63%
• Owner: Gayle Benson
• Year Purchased: 1985
• Price Paid: $70.2 million
• Value: $2.45 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 66%
• Owner: Shahid Khan
• Year Purchased: 2011
• Price Paid: $770 million
• Value: $2.45 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 48%
• Owner: Steve Cohen
• Year Purchased: 2020
• Price Paid: $2.42 billion
Nic antaya Getty Images
• Value: $2.45 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 75%
• Owner: Mark Cuban
• Year Purchased: 2000
• Price Paid: $280 million
• Value: $2.35 billion
• Five-Year Change In Value: 57%
• Owner: Dee and Jimmy Haslam
• Year Purchased: 2012
• Price Paid: $987 million
With additional reporting by Christina Settimi.
Team values (equity plus net debt) are based on Forbes’ published valuations for each sport during the past six months, which were calculated using revenue and operating income adjusted for revenue sharing, and include the economics of each team’s arena deal but not the value of the real estate itself.
The information used to compile our valuations primarily came from the teams, sports bankers, media consultants and public documents, like arena lease agreements and bond documents.
Get Forbes’ daily top headlines delivered straight to your inbox for news on the world’s most important entrepreneurs and superstars, expert career advice and success secrets.