Cowboys Remain NFL's Most Valuable Team At $6.5 Billion

New York, Aug 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Aug, 2021 ) :The Dallas Cowboys remained the NFL's most valuable team for the 15th consecutive year at $6.5 billion in Forbes magazine's annual rating of club values for the world's richest sports league.

Forbes unveiled the 2021 list Thursday with the Cowboys on top, the New England Patriots second on $5 billion, the New York Giants third on $4.85 billion, the Los Angeles Rams fourth on $4.8 billion.

The Washington Football Team, the Cowboys' arch rivals who last year dropped the controversial Redskins nickname for a temporary generic rebranding, was fifth on $4.2 billion.

In May, the Cowboys were named the world's most valuable sports team by Forbes with an estimated $5.7 billion ahead of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees at $5.25 billion, the NBA New York Knicks at $5 billion and European football giants Barcelona at $4.76 billion and Real Madrid at $4.5 billion.

Forbes uses revenue and operating income figures for the 2020 season against team and stadium debts, the Rams and Las Vegas Raiders given revenue estimates from new stadiums.

The 32-team NFL has an average value per club of $3.48 billion, a 14% boost over the past year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

The biggest increase in five years came as the result of the NFL's $112 billion in new media rights deals and its partnerships and investments in such companies as Fanatics, Genius Sports, DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment.

"The NFL has the most valuable intellectual property of any sports league," Forbes assistant managing editor Mike Ozanian said.

"In the months ahead, the NFL will likely form a new corporation with media, sports betting and investment companies to further monetize their powerful brand and content." The biggest one-year NFL value jump, 29%, belonged to the 2021 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, sparked by quarterback Tom Brady's arrival in March 2020. Ticket and merchandise sales have skyrocketed and ticket prices were hiked for 2021.

The Bucs, owned by the Glazer family that also owns Premier League side Manchester United, ranked 21st in value at $2.94 billion, just $10 million ahead of the team they beat in the Super Bowl, the 2019 season champion Kansas city Chiefs.

In May's global listing, Man United ranked 11th on $4.2 billion, just behind Bayern Munich's $4.21 billion.

At the bottom of the NFL team values list were the Buffalo Bills on $2.27 billion, just behind the Cincinnati Bengals at $2.275 billion and the Detroit Lions in 30th overall on $2.4 billion.

The huge rights deals signed in March represented an 82% annual increase over prior deals, meaning a per club payout jump from $220 for the 2021 campaign to $377 million for the 2032 season.

Team revenues in 2020 dropped 20% to an average of $381 million to $381 million per club and operating income fell from $109 million in 2019 to $7.1 million on average for clubs, who played every game in the pandemic-hit season, although many with no fans or limited live crowds.