The 20 Most Valuable Sports Franchises in the World

Two things you can safely say about Americans: They love their sports, and football is their first choice, by far. Just look at the valuations for the richest sports franchises in the world. The top 13 franchises are all U.S. teams, and nine of those are NFL teams.

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Using data from Forbes, GOBankingRates identified the 20 most valuable sports franchises in the world, in ascending order from least valuable to most. You’ll also learn about the revenue they earn, who owns them, when they bought their teams and for how much.

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $4,600,000,000
• Owner: Stephen Ross
• Year purchased: 2008
• Price paid: $1,100,000,000
• Revenue: $533,000,000

• League: EPL
• Sport: Soccer
• Valuation: $4,600,000,000
• Owner: Glazer Family
• Year purchased: 2005
• Price paid: $1,400,000,000
• Revenue: $663,000,000

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• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $4,650,000,000
• Owner: Rob Walton
• Year purchased: 2022
• Price paid: $4,500,000,000
• Revenue: $526,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $4,700,000,000
• Owner: Janice McNair
• Year purchased: 1999
• Price paid: $600,000,000
• Revenue: $571,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $4,900,000,000
• Owner: Jeffrey Lurie
• Year purchased: 1994
• Price paid: $185,000,000
• Revenue: $547,000,000

• League: La Liga
• Sport: Soccer
• Valuation: $5,000,000,000
• Owner: Club members
• Year purchased: N/A
• Price paid: N/A
• Revenue: $692,000,000

• League: La Liga
• Sport: Soccer
• Valuation: $5,100,000,000
• Owner: Club members
• Year purchased: N/A
• Price paid: N/A
• Revenue: $761,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $5,100,000,000
• Owner: Mark Davis
• Year purchased: 1966
• Price paid: $180,000
• Revenue: $563,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $5,200,000,000
• Owner: Denise DeBartolo & John York
• Year purchased: 1977
• Price paid: $13,000,000
• Revenue: $575,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $5,400,000,000
• Owner: Johnson Family
• Year purchased: 2000
• Price paid: $635,000,000
• Revenue: $519,000,000

• League: NBA
• Sport: Basketball
• Valuation: $5,500,000,000
• Owner: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Todd Boehly, Mark Walter
• Year purchased: 1979, 2021
• Price paid: $20,000,000; $5,000,000,000
• Revenue: $316,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $5,600,000,000
• Owner: Daniel and Tanya Snyder
• Year purchased: 1999
• Price paid: $750,000,000
• Revenue: $544,000,000

• League: NBA
• Sport: Basketball
• Valuation: $5,600,000,000
• Owner: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber
• Year purchased: 2010
• Price paid: $750,000,000
• Revenue: $258,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $5,800,000,000
• Owner: McCaskey Family
• Year purchased: 1920
• Price paid: $100
• Revenue: $520,000,000

• League: NBA
• Sport: Basketball
• Valuation: $5,800,000,000
• Owner: Madison Square Garden Company
• Year purchased: 1997
• Price paid: $300,000,000
• Revenue: $298,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $6,000,000,000
• Owner: John Mara, Steve Tisch
• Year purchased: 1925, 1991
• Price paid: $500, $150,000,000
• Revenue: $584,000,000

• League: MLB
• Sport: Baseball
• Valuation: $6,000,000,000
• Owner: Steinbrenner Family
• Year purchased: 1973
• Price paid: $8,800,000
• Revenue: $482,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $6,200,000,000
• Owner: E. Stanley Kroenke
• Year purchased: 2010
• Price paid: $750,000,000
• Revenue: $628,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $6,400,000,000
• Owner: Robert Kraft
• Year purchased: 1994
• Price paid: $172,000,000
• Revenue: $651,000,000

• League: NFL
• Sport: Football
• Valuation: $8,000,000,000
• Owner: Jerry Jones
• Year purchased: 1989
• Price paid: $150,000,000
• Revenue: $1,087,000,000

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Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: GOBankingRates found the 50 most valuable sports franchises in the world using Forbes’ “The World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams” 2020 data set and sourced the following factors for each team: (1) team name; (2) league/sport played in; (3) valuation; (4) owner(s) name; (5) year purchased; and (6) price paid. GOBankingRates then found each team’s most recent seasons revenues as sourced from Forbes’ league valuations. All data was collected on and up to date as of October 24, 2022.