The Sports Franchises That Have Gained The Most Value Since 2000 |
The financial scoreboard doesn’t lie. Twenty-five years ago, Forbes valued NHL teams at an average of $148 million. In the NBA, the figure sat at $207 million, and the number was $233 million in MLB. Even the mighty NFL had an average valuation of only $423 million.
Today, all 124 franchises in the four major North American leagues are worth at least $1.05 billion, and $536 billion combined. The average valuation in each sport exceeds $2.2 billion—including $7.1 billion in the NFL—and in the top tier, teams are worth as much as $13 billion.
Some of that rise is simply a matter of inflation—$148 million in 2000 would be about $280 million in 2025 dollars, for instance—but the vast majority of the increase reflects real gains made by sports franchises. In fact, the industry has stayed on a steady march toward financial records for virtually all of the past 25 years, even when the rest of the economy was hurting.
Along that road, the NFL franchise now known as the Washington Commanders, valued at $741 million in 2000, became the first team worth at least $1 billion in 2004. Eight years later, the sports world got its first $2 billion team—Manchester United of England’s Premier League—and the leader in the clubhouse doubled again by 2016, when the Dallas Cowboys surpassed $4 billion. The Cowboys then hit $8 billion in 2022, and the pace has only accelerated in the years since.
So now, taking stock a quarter of the way through the 21st century, which teams have gained the most in value? Well, it depends on how you look at it.
Ranked by the........