NFL - the best business in sports

[JMT]

Football Fiefdoms

The Most Valuable NFL Teams

By MICHAEL K. OZANIAN

The National Football League is the most valuable and profitable team sport in the world. This year the average team is worth $733 million, a 17% increase over last year. Operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the 32 teams came in at $851 million on revenue of $5.3 billion, an operating margin of 16%. Baseball teams come the closest in valuations to football, with an average value of $295 million. When we last looked at the National Basketball Association, the second most profitable sport, the league's operating margin was only 6.5%.

The league's national television contract ($17.6 billion over eight years) is responsible for the NFL's rich team valuations, and a cap on player salaries of no more than 65% of specified revenue explains the fat margin. But the pecking order of team values and profits is determined by stadium economics.

The eight most valuable teams control or own their stadiums and are therefore able to rake in millions of dollars in corporate sponsorships and advertising from the likes of American Express, FedEx, Gillette and PepsiCo. The nine teams with the lowest valuations play in antiquated stadiums that are controlled by municipalities.

In 1993 the price of an expansion team in the NFL was $200 million ($222 million in 1999 dollars). In 1999, the last time the league expanded, the Houston Texans went for $700 million. Don't look for football franchise values to stop climbing any time soon. Taxpayers in most cities pony up to finance new stadiums for billionaire owners. Also, the league is one of the few monopolies permitted in the U.S. and its weak union allows for owners, not the marketplace, to set their salaries. Great business, football.


Curr Value ($mil) / 1-Yr Change (%) / Debt-Value (%) / Revenues ($mil) / Operating Income ($mil)

1 Washington Redskins 1,104 16 20 245 69.6

2 Dallas Cowboys 923 8 14 205 37.5

3 Houston Texans 905 14 36 201 55.5

4 New England Patriots 861 14 54 191 30.5

5 Philadelphia Eagles 833 35 40 198 44.3

6 Denver Broncos 815 19 25 183 42.8

7 Cleveland Browns 798 15 13 183 59.0

8 Chicago Bears 785 26 25 175 33.1

9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 779 16 18 175 25.0

10 Baltimore Ravens 776 20 35 172 34.8

11 Miami Dolphins 765 20 26 170 32.1

12 Carolina Panthers 760 18 16 169 17.3

13 Green Bay Packers 756 24 4 168 23.4

14 Detroit Lions 747 18 29 168 25.1

15 Tennessee Titans 736 19 17 164 22.2

16 Pittsburgh Steelers 717 18 14 159 35.3

17 Seattle Seahawks 712 17 16 158 6.0

18 Kansas City Chiefs 709 18 18 159 24.0

19 St Louis Rams 708 18 14 157 21.8

20 New York Giants 692 21 9 154 20.2

21 Jacksonville Jaguars 688 21 18 153 16.6

22 New York Jets 685 21 15 152 26.5

23 Cincinnati Bengals 675 20 1 150 14.2

24 Buffalo Bills 637 13 11 152 28.5

25 San Francisco 49ers 636 12 16 151 29.4

26 New Orleans Saints 627 7 0 157 7.8

27 Oakland Raiders 624 8 8 149 26.1

28 San Diego Chargers 622 11 16 148 22.5

29 Indianapolis Colts 609 11 21 145 13.6

30 Minnesota Vikings 604 12 21 144 4.1

31 Atlanta Falcons 603 13 45 144 6.4

32 Arizona Cardinals 552 9 14 131 -4.9

[V. Barbarino]

yea right, the Texans more valued than the giants??

[LeVeL]

Hey atleast the Dolphins did better than any New York Footbal team. I am shocked the redskins are worth that much.

[CowboyTrance]

Originally Posted by LeVeL'

Hey atleast the Dolphins did better than any New York Footbal team. I am shocked the redskins are worth that much.

It's the only time they'll do better than a NY team: on paper.