This week Forbes announced its annual List of The World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams. As has been the case since the inception of the list, English soccer club Manchester United sits a top the list. The estimated value of Manchester United is $2.23bn and the second Most Valuable Team is the Spanish soccer club Real Madrid. Only in third place do we find an American franchise (the New York Yankees).
A breakdown of the different leagues represented looks like this:
League
|
# Teams
|
European Soccer *
|
7
|
MLB
|
7
|
NFL
|
32
|
NBA
|
2
|
Formula 1
|
2
|
* While the UEFA Champions League serve as a European soccer league the teams play most of their games in their respective national leagues.
Lists like The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams are not that useful by themselves. In order to say something meaningful you have to compare them with
something. And what better comparison than the list as it looked in 2010 when it was first compiled?
A few trends emerge:
A few trends emerge:
- Soccer clubs Juventus and Liverpool have been replaced by the MLB Teams Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers.
- In 2012 there are only 23 teams with a value above $1bn as opposed to 25 teams 2 years ago
- While most of the soccer clubs where in the bottom half in 2010, 5 out of 7 are now among the 11 most valuable teams
The most interesting part is looking at growth. If we assume that no money has been withdrawn to pay dividends or profit to owners, we can look at the annualized growth of each team. Even though the Los Angeles Dodgers is sixth on the total value list, their annualized growth has been an amazing 39.02% in the period 2010-2012.
The Growth Top 10 looks like this.
Value
|
Team
|
2012*
|
Annual growth
|
6
|
Los
Angeles Dodgers
|
1,405
|
39.02%
|
35
|
Los
Angeles Lakers
|
900
|
21.77%
|
2
|
Real
Madrid
|
1,880
|
19.34%
|
43
|
New
York Knicks
|
780
|
15.37%
|
8
|
FC Barcelona
|
1,310
|
14.46%
|
11
|
Bayern
München
|
1,230
|
11.46%
|
27
|
AC
Milan
|
989
|
11.19%
|
1
|
Manchester
United
|
2,230
|
10.39%
|
36
|
Chicago
Cubs
|
879
|
10.03%
|
46
|
Chelsea
|
761
|
8.54%
|
* Mill. USD
Even though the NFL dominates the list of The World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams, no NFL Franchise is able to compete when it comes to growth. The problems concerning the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was negotiated in 2011 probably plays a part in this. So maybe the fairytale that has been the NFL's growth spurt has come to an end.
From a business point of view it is troubling that it’s enough to generate 8.54% growth over 2 years to be one of the Top 10 of Growth for the 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams. But the most worrying aspect of the Growth list is that 17 teams generated negative growth. Worst of these were the Jacksonville Jaguars who went through a change of ownership while losing on average 8.50% of its value per year.
The full statistical material including 2010 value, 2012 value and calculated annual growth can be found below.
|
Place
|
Team
|
2010
|
2012
|
Growth
|
|
1
|
Manchester United
|
1,830
|
2,230
|
10.39%
|
|
2
|
Real Madrid
|
1,320
|
1,880
|
19.34%
|
|
3
|
New York Yankees
|
1,600
|
1,855
|
7.67%
|
|
4
|
Dallas Cowboys
|
1,650
|
1,850
|
5.89%
|
|
5
|
Washington Redskins
|
1,550
|
1,560
|
0.32%
|
|
6
|
Los Angeles Dodgers
|
727
|
1,405
|
39.02%
|
|
7
|
New England Patriots
|
1,360
|
1,400
|
1.46%
|
|
8
|
Barcelona
|
1,000
|
1,310
|
14.46%
|
|
9
|
New York Giants
|
1,180
|
1,300
|
4.96%
|
|
10
|
Arsenal
|
1,180
|
1,290
|
4.56%
|
|
11
|
Bayern München
|
990
|
1,230
|
11.46%
|
|
12
|
New York Jets
|
1,170
|
1,230
|
2.53%
|
|
13
|
Houston Texans
|
1,150
|
1,200
|
2.15%
|
|
14
|
Philadelphia Eagles
|
1,120
|
1,160
|
1.77%
|
|
15
|
Ferrari
|
1,050
|
1,100
|
2.35%
|
|
16
|
Chicago Bears
|
1,080
|
1,090
|
0.46%
|
|
17
|
Green Bay Packers
|
1,020
|
1,090
|
3.37%
|
|
18
|
Baltimore Ravens
|
1,080
|
1,090
|
0.46%
|
|
19
|
Indianapolis Colts
|
1,030
|
1,060
|
1.45%
|
|
20
|
Denver Broncos
|
1,080
|
1,050
|
-1.40%
|
|
21
|
Pittsburgh Steelers
|
1,020
|
1,020
|
0.00%
|
|
22
|
Miami Dolphins
|
1,020
|
1,010
|
-0.49%
|
|
23
|
Carolina Panthers
|
1,050
|
1,000
|
-2.41%
|
|
24
|
Boston Red Sox
|
870
|
1,000
|
7.21%
|
|
25
|
Seattle Seahawks
|
994
|
997
|
0.15%
|
|
26
|
San Francisco 49'ers
|
875
|
990
|
6.37%
|
|
27
|
AC Milan
|
800
|
989
|
11.19%
|
|
28
|
Kansas City Chiefs
|
1,030
|
986
|
-2.16%
|
|
29
|
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
|
1,090
|
981
|
-5.13%
|
|
30
|
Cleveland Browns
|
1,030
|
977
|
-2.61%
|
|
31
|
New Orleans Saints
|
942
|
965
|
1.21%
|
|
32
|
Tennessee Titans
|
1,000
|
964
|
-1.82%
|
|
33
|
San Diego Chargers
|
917
|
920
|
0.16%
|
|
34
|
Arizona Cardinals
|
935
|
901
|
-1.84%
|
|
35
|
Los Angeles Lakers
|
607
|
900
|
21.77%
|
|
36
|
Chicago Cubs
|
726
|
879
|
10.03%
|
|
37
|
Cincinnati Bengals
|
953
|
875
|
-4.18%
|
|
38
|
Detroit Lions
|
867
|
844
|
-1.34%
|
|
39
|
Atlanta Falcons
|
856
|
814
|
-2.48%
|
|
40
|
McLaren
|
805
|
800
|
-0.31%
|
|
41
|
Minnesota Vikings
|
835
|
796
|
-2.36%
|
|
42
|
Buffalo Bills
|
909
|
792
|
-6.66%
|
|
43
|
New York Knicks
|
586
|
780
|
15.37%
|
|
44
|
St. Louis Rams
|
913
|
775
|
-7.87%
|
|
45
|
Oakland Raiders
|
797
|
761
|
-2.28%
|
|
46
|
Chelsea
|
646
|
761
|
8.54%
|
|
47
|
Jacksonville Jaguars
|
866
|
725
|
-8.50%
|
|
48
|
Philadelphia Phillies
|
n/a
|
723
|
n/a
|
|
49
|
New York Mets
|
858
|
719
|
-8.46%
|
|
50
|
Texas Rangers
|
n/a
|
674
|
n/a
|
* Mill. USD
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