The Most Valuable Sports Empires — And the Teams That Make Them Rich

The word “empire” might seem grandiose when discussing the richest enterprises in sports — until you look at the list of the most valuable.

This list gathered from information from Forbes shows that each of the entries holds multiple franchises (with the notable exception of Jerry Jones, who owns the most valuable team of them all, the Dallas Cowboys), and they span a variety of sports, leagues and even continents.

Read on to see the world’s five most valuable sports empires for 2024.

• Properties: Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Commanders, New Jersey Devils, Joe Gibbs Racing, Youth Sports, HBSE Ventures, Utica Comets, Crystal Palace, Elevate Sports Ventures, New Meta Entertainment*

The Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment empire jumped in value by 155% over the past year, due in big part to co-founder and managing general partner Josh Harris’ purchase of the Washington Commanders in July for $6.05 billion.

*Indicates ownership of less than 50%

• Properties: Dallas Cowboys, Legends*, The Star, GameSquare Esports*

When you have the world’s most valuable sports franchise, you’re going to be high on this list. The Cowboys, also known as “America’s Team,” is worth $9 billion. The team hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1996 but is still immensely popular.

Another successful investment is Legends, which is a food, beverage, retail and stadium operations company co-owned with the Yankee Group. Jones’ business savvy shows through here, as he wants to own every aspect of the operation.

*Indicate ownership of less than 50%

• Properties: Liverpool FC, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, NESN, Real Estate, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Fenway Sports Management

The Yankees’ rival organization, the Boston Red Sox, is worth $4.5 billion. And the NESN network, which was valued at around $650 million in 2018, broadcasts the Red Sox and Boston Bruins games. The other gem of this holding is the Premier League soccer club, Liverpool, which is worth $5.37 billion.

This sports empire also has plenty of championships to its credit. The Red Sox have nine World Series crowns, Liverpool has won 19 League titles, and Roush Fenway won back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in the early 2000s.

• Properties: Los Angeles Rams, Arsenal, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, Altitude Sports & Entertainment, Colorado Mammoth

Stan Kroenke owns a staggering array of sports franchises across the top leagues: NFL (Rams), Premier League (Arsenal), NBA (Nuggets), NHL (Avalanche), MLS (Rapids) and lacrosse (Mammoth). The Nuggets and Avalanche are actually technically owned by his wife, Ann, because NFL ownership rules prevent team owners from having teams in other markets.

• Properties: Formula 1, Overtime Sports, F1 Arcade, Drone Racing League, Kroenke Arena Co., Meyer Shank Racing*

Although Liberty Media’s value dipped over the past year after it sold off the Atlanta Braves, it still takes the top spot thanks to its ownership of the Formula 1 auto-racing series. Liberty Media is helmed by Gregory Maffei, who acts as president and CEO, and long-time chairman John Malone.

Gabrielle Olya contributed to the reporting for this article.

*Indicates ownership of less than 50%. All data is sourced from Forbes and is accurate as of March 14, 2024.