If you’re a sports fan, you’ll probably be interested in knowing which are the most profitable US sports teams today. After all, it’s even more fun taking shots at the rich owners when you know just how much money they’re raking in from the fans. It is no secret that sports handle a large amount of finances. Nowadays, winning and losing are actually not so important. When it comes to sports, making money is what matters. So, if you happen to have a big sum lying around, maybe you should put it to work and invest it in one of these valuable sports franchises. Or, if sports are not your thing, take a look at our list of the Most Profitable Companies.
Forbes has recently compiled a list of the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world. So, using that data, we managed to put together a countdown of the most profitable US sports teams. It may come as a surprise to you that the US teams didn’t dominate the global ranking. If you take a closer look at the list, the reason is easily revealed: the top three teams are soccer teams, a sport which is very popular worldwide, but not so much in the US. It doesn’t matter how expensive American sports franchises have become in the last years, they still cannot compete with the ultra-wealthy European soccer clubs.
These top sports leagues have been valued and analyzed by Forbes for over a decade taking into account the team values, their venue deals, and other variables. Forbes’ top 50 is based on the valuations for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and soccer teams of the last year. The results of this analysis show that the franchises which generate the most profits in the US are mainly football and baseball teams. In fact, basketball and hockey both failed to make it into the top ten of Forbes’ ranking, and hockey also failed to make the top ten on the US rankings.
So, are you curious now as to which are the ten most profitable US sports teams? Let’s begin the countdown with a team from New York, which won’t be the last by any stretch.
10. New York Jets
This NFL team is valued at $1.38 billion. Owned by Robert Wood Johnson IV, the former “Titans of New York” made it to #14 in Forbes’ list.
9. New York Knicks
The second New York team on the list, and the only basketball team on it, the fully named “New York Knickerbockers” ranked #13 in the Forbes list. Its estimated value is $1.4 billion and it is owned by the Madison Square Garden Company. It also had the NBA’s biggest average attendance.
8. Houston Texans
Valued at $1.45 billion, Robert McNair’s team nabbed Jadeveon Clowney with the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, after a disastrous 14-game losing streak last season.
7. Boston Red Sox
The first baseball team in our countdown, and worth $1.5 billion are the Boston Red Sox, who sandwiched last place finishes in the AL East in 2012 and 2014 around their 8th World Series title in 2013.
6. New York Giants
The third New York franchise on this list managed to pack the second largest number of fans per game last season. Owned by John Mara and Steven Tisch, it is worth around $1.55 billion.
The countdown continues on the next page with a team mired in all sorts of controversies over their name, as our ranking of the most profitable US sports teams continues.
