In retrospect, with the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the books, there is absolutely no questioning the influence and the power the sport of soccer has both nationally and, on a larger scale, internationally; a fact further evidenced when teams are ranked according to value across all sports.
On Wednesday, Forbes.com released its list of the world’s fifty most valuable sports franchises and the Manchester United Football Club of the English Premier League led the way with an estimated value of $1.83 billion; and with 139 million core fans and 333 million followers worldwide, it’s not hard to see why the Red Devils produce a revenue stream of approximately $459 million for the Glazer family.
Manchester United’s fellow international football club, Real Madrid ($1.32 billion), the most successful team in Spanish football and voted by FIFA as the most successful club in the 20th century, came in sixth on the list due largely in part to generating $225 million annually from broadcasting fees, the most in sports.
The Arsenal Football Club ($1.18 billion), the only team to have completed an English Premier League season unbeaten, was the third football club to rank in the top ten, finishing eighth on the list. The Gunners’ $102 million operating income was second to Manchester United among English Premier League teams in 2009.
Domestically speaking, American football rules the roost as National Football League teams accounted for 50% of the top ten and more than half of the top fifty with the Dallas Cowboys ($1.65 billion) leading the way, ranking second overall; no doubt due to the new Cowboys Stadium landing the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV in 2011 and the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.
The only Major League Baseball team to make the list, not surprisingly, were the New York Yankees ($1.60 billion), who ranked third on the list and owe a huge debt of gratitude to their recently deceased front office patriarch, George Steinbrenner, for taking one of the most valuable brands in sports to the next level with an unparalled commitment to winning and the creation of the YES Network.
Although the Yankees were the only baseball club to crack the top ten, they weren’t the only the New York team to rank among the fifty most valuable franchises in sports.
The New York Giants ($1.18 billion), who are close to selling out season tickets for the new Giants Stadium, and the New York Jets ($1.17 billion) were the seventh and ninth most valuable teams in the world respectively. The New York Mets ($858 million) ranked #38 after inking a 20-year, $400 million stadium naming rights deal with Citigroup in 2006.
Conspicuous by their absences from the top forty were teams from the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. In fact, the only NBA teams to appear in the top fifty were the Los Angeles Lakers ($607 million) and the New York Knicks ($586 million) at #49 and #50 respectively, while no NHL team appeared in the top fifty.
Including the teams in the top ten, 36 NFL teams made the top fifty. The next closest sport was international football/soccer with six teams. The national pastime featured four teams in the top fifty.
Here are the ten most valuable sports franchises in the world according to Forbes:
1. Manchester United Football Club, soccer ($1.83 billion)
2. Dallas Cowboys, football ($1.65 billion)
3. New York Yankees, baseball ($1.60 billion)
4. Washington Redskins, football ($1.55 billion)
5. New England Patriots, football ($1.36 billion)
6. Real Madrid Football Club, soccer ($1.32 billion)
7. New York Giants, football ($1.18 billion)
8. Arsenal Football Club, soccer ($1.18 billion)
9. New York Jets, football ($1.17 billion)
10. Houston Texans, football ($1.15 billion)
Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video presentation featuring the ten most valuable sports franchises in the world today.
The 10 Most Valuable Sports Franchises in the World
