The Dallas Cowboys have retained their spot as the US National Football League and the world’s most valuable sports team.
The Cowboys have held the title as the most valuable NFL side for a decade, but only eclipsed Spanish soccer’s Real Madrid as the richest sports team in 2015.
American magazine Forbes, which regularly lists the wealth of celebrities, sports teams, businesses and individuals, has issued a statement listing the most valuable NFL teams as this year’s race for the Superbowl starts.
Dallas are reckoned to be worth $4.2 billion – an increase of 5% in a year.
The record price tag comes despite the Cowboys failing to win a Superbowl since 1996 and failing to meet the final play-offs in the past two season.
Rams double in value
Nevertheless, the team took $700 million at the turnstiles last year and earned other income of $300 million.
Forbes put the average worth of the NFL’s 32 teams at $2.34 billion, which is close to a fifth more than last year’s figures.
The huge increase is explained by revenues from the NFL pulling more TV viewers than any other professional sport in the USA.
The top 10 most valuable NFL franchises, according to Forbes, are:
- Dallas Cowboys – $4.2 billion
- New England Patriots – $3.4 billion
- New York Giants – $3.1 billion
- San Francisco 49ers – $3 billion
- Washington Redskins – $2.95 billion
- Los Angeles Rams – $2.90 billion
- New York Jets – $2.75 billion
- Chicago Bears – $2.70 billion
- Houston Texans – $2.60 billion
- Philadelphia Eagles – $2.50 billion
The Rams doubled in value on moving from St Louis to Los Angeles, where they are contracted to play for the next three seasons.
Most valuable sports teams
When soccer teams are rated for the richest sports team list, only the Cowboys make the top five, with three soccer teams and baseball giants the New York Yankees taking the rest of the places:
- Dallas Cowboys $4 billion
- Real Madrid $3.65 billion
- Barcelona $3.55 billion
- New York Yankees $3.4 billion
- Manchester United $3.32 billion
Forbes may revise the list to take account of the changing fortunes of the New England Patriots, who won the 2015 Superbowl.