CHARLOTTE, N.C. (NEXSTAR) — 41 American sports franchises are the most valuable on the planet, according to an annual ranking released by Forbes Magazine.
Teams from Dallas, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco all landed in the top 10 in the magazine’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable franchises. Only famed soccer clubs from Barcelona, Madrid and Munich could prevent the U.S. from claiming all of the top 10 positions.
The Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees and Knicks were the only clubs valued above $5 billion. The average team jumped 9.9 percent in value over the last year, according to Forbes.
“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,” Forbes authors wrote.
Three international soccer clubs and three American franchises (Golden State, The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams) have more than doubled in value in the last five years, according to the study authors.
If plans for a European soccer “super league” had come to fruition, those prime soccer franchises could have catapulted past America’s top teams in future years based on television revenue. For now, the Cowboys’ star sits alone at the top.
See where your team ranks on the full Forbes Most Valuable Franchises list.
