Forbes says Chiefs are one of the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world
Soccer might be the most popular sport in the world, but the NFL is the most financially lucrative league on the planet.
That can bee seen in the Forbes list of the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world, which came out this week.
The NFL has 26 teams on the list, including the Chiefs.
Nine Major League Baseball franchises, eight European soccer teams and seven NBA teams fill out the Forbes 50.
The Chiefs are tied for 47th with the St. Louis Cardinals, and both teams have a value of $2.1 billion. Forbes estimates the Chiefs last season had an operating income of $60 million, which it says is “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.”
At the top of the list is the Dallas Cowboys, who are worth $5 billion and had an operating income of $365 million. The New York Yankees ($4.6 billion) and Real Madrid ($4.24 billion) are second and third, respectively.
“The NFL is still the dominant sports league when it comes to the worth of its franchises,” Forbes Kurt Badenhausen wrote. “More than half of the top 50 are football squads. Credit the monster media-rights deals with the likes of CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and DirecTV that paid out more than $260 million per team last year. The TV haul is a nice cushion to easily cover teams’ biggest expense item, player costs, before any tickets, sponsorships, beer or replica jerseys are sold.“
Here is the top 50 list:
1. Dallas Cowboys, $5 billion
2. New York Yankees, $4.6 billion
3. Real Madrid, $4.24 billion
4. Barcelona, $4.02 billion
5. New York Knicks, $4 billion
6. Manchester United, $3.81 billion
7. New England Patriots, $3.8 billion
8. Los Angeles Lakers, $3.7 billion
9. Golden State Warriors, $3.5 billion
10. New York Giants, $3.3 billion
tie Los Angeles Dodgers, $3.3 billion
12. Los Angeles Rams, $3.2 billion
tie Boston Red Sox, $3.2 billion
14. Washington (NFL), $3.1 billion
tie Chicago Cubs, $3.1 billion
16. San Francisco 49ers, $3.05 billion
17. Bayern Munich, $3.02 billion
18. San Francisco Giants, $3 billion
19. Chicago Bears, $2.9 billion
tied Chicago Bulls, $2.9 billion
21. New York Jets, $2.85 billion
22. Houston Texans, $2.8 billion
tie Boston Celtics $2.8 billion
24. Philadelphia Eagles, $2.75 billion
25. Manchester City, $2.69 billion
26. Denver Broncos, $2.65 billion
27. Green Bay Packers, $2.63 billion
28. Atlanta Falcons, $2.6 billion
29. Baltimore Ravens, $2.59 billion
30. Pittsburgh Steelers, $2.585 billion
31. Seattle Seahawks, $2.58 billion
tie Chelsea, $2.58 billion
tie Miami Dolphins, $2.58 billion
34. Oakland Raiders, $2.42 billion
35. Minnesota Vikings, $2.5 billion
36. Indianapolis Colts, $2.38 billion
37. New Jersey Nets, $2.35 billion
38. Houston Rockets, $2.3 billion
tie Carolina Panthers, $2.3 billion
tie New York Mets, $2.3 billion
41. Los Angeles Chargers, $2.28 billion
42. Arsenal, $2.27 billion
43. Dallas Mavericks, $2.25 billion
44. Los Angeles Clippers, $2.2 billion
45. Liverpool, $2.18 billion
46. Arizona Cardinals, $2.15 billion
47. Chiefs, $2.1 billion
(tie) St. Louis Cardinals, $2.1 billion
49. Jacksonville Jaguars, $2.08 billion
tie New Orleans Saints, $2.08 billion
You can read more of the Forbes story here.
