Forbes 50 richest sports team 2019: Manchester United slip down rankings
Forbes have released their latest list of the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world, which sees Manchester United slip down the pile to sixth, while the NFL dominate the rankings.
The Old Trafford club, worth $3.81billion, have dropped from second in 2018 to sixth this year, falling behind Real Madrid, third, and Barcelona, fourth, the former ranking the highest of the eight football clubs in the top-50.
Premier League champions Manchester City are valued at $3.81b, which puts them at 25th, with Chelsea at 32, worth $2.58b, Arsenal ($2.27b) are 42nd, and Liverpool ($2.18b) sneak in at 45.
Barcelona, who lost $37 million due to excessive player costs in 2018, was the only top-50 team to post a loss on an operating basis, while every other team turned a profit of at least $25 million. More than half of the teams made more than $100 million. As an example, Real earned over $100 million for their 2018 Champions League success over Liverpool alone.
Topping the charts, for a fourth year running, is NFL franchise Dallas Cowboys, who are worth an eye watering $5 billion. The NFC East champions generate an estimated $340 million in sponsorship and premium seating revenue at AT&T Stadium alone, twice as much as any other NFL team.
The NFL makes up half of the top 50 list, confirming its title as the world's richest sport, with current Super Bowl champions New England Patriots seventh in the glamorous list.
That's helped by broadcasters like CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and DirecTV paying out more than $260 million per team last year in TV rights, according to Forbes, while at the same time the NFL cap on player salaries helps, sitting at $177 million last season.
Forbes say the cutoff to rank among the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams is now $2.075 billion, which is up from $125 million in 2018 and $1.2 billion five years ago.
This is caused by ballooning media rights deals and more owner-friendly collective bargaining agreements that restrain player costs.
The top 50 most valuable sports teams
1. Dallas Cowboys ($5b)
2. New York Yankees ($4.6b)
3. Real Madrid ($4.24b)
4. Barcelona ($4.02b)
5. New York Knicks ($4b)
6. Manchester United ($3.81b)
7. New England Patriots ($3.8b)
8. Los Angeles Lakers ($3.7b)
9. Golden State Warriors ($3.5b)
10. Los Angeles Dodgers/New York Giants ($3.3b)
12. Boston Red Sox/Los Angeles Rams ($3.2b)
14. Washington Redskins/Chicago Cubs ($3.1b)
16. San Francisco 49ers ($3.05b)
17. Bayern Munich ($3.02b)
18. San Francisco Giants ($3b)
19. Chicago Bulls/Chicago Bears ($2.9b)
21. New York Jets ($2.85b)
22. Houston Texans/Boston Celtics ($2.8b)
24. Philadelphia Eagles ($2.75b)
25. Manchester City ($2.69b)
26. Denver Broncos ($2.65b)
27. Green Bay Packers ($2.63b)
28. Atlanta Falcons ($2.6b)
29. Baltimore Ravens ($2.59b)
30. Pittsburgh Steelers ($2.59b)
31. Seattle Seahawks ($2.58b)
32. Chelsea ($2.58b)
33. Miami Dolphins ($2.58b)
34. Oakland Raiders ($2.42b)
35. Minnesota Vikings ($2.4b)
36. Indianapolis Colts ($2.38b)
37. Brooklyn Nets ($2.35b)
38. Houston Rockets/Carolina Panthers/New York Mets ($2.3b)
41. Los Angeles Chargers ($2.28b)
42. Arsenal ($2.27b)
43. Dallas Mavericks ($2.25b)
44. Los Angeles Clippers ($2.2b)
45. Liverpool ($2.18b)
46. Arizona Cardinals ($2.15b)
47. St Louis Cardinals/Kansas City Chiefs ($2.1b)
49. Jacksonville Jaguars ($2.08b)
50. New Orleans Saints ($2.08b)
The franchise values below are based on Forbes’ published valuations over the past 12 months. Team values reflect enterprise values (equity plus debt). No teams from the NHL, Nascar, MLS or Formula One made the top 50. The highest-ranking franchise outside of the NBA, NFL, MLB and European soccer was the New York Rangers at 72nd with a value of $1.55 billion.
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