Although they haven’t won a Super Bowl in more than 25 years, the Dallas Cowboys are still the class of the NFL in at least one category — team value.
Forbes has again named the Cowboys as the most valuable NFL franchise, this time at a record-breaking $9 billion — the latest jump in value for a team that Jerry Jones once purchased for $140 million.
Big markets dominate the top 5
The Cowboys are the only NFL team that crossed the $1 billion mark in revenue in 2022, and their $9 billion valuation is $2 billion higher than the #2 team on the list — the New England Patriots, whose popularity skyrocketed during the Tom Brady era and has shown few signs of decline financially.
Third on the list are the Los Angeles Rams, Super Bowl champions two years ago in one of the largest markets in the United States. A disappointing 2022 season has not slowed momentum at SoFi Stadium, and the franchise’s decision to leave St. Louis seven years ago appears to have been the right one — financially, anyway.
Rounding out the top five according to Forbes are the New York Giants ($6.8 billion) and the Chicago Bears ($6.3 billion), two teams for whom success has been hard to come by in recent years but who remain firmly entrenched inside huge sporting markets.
A surprise at the bottom
The least-valuable NFL team — still at a whopping $3.5 billion — is the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals this summer agreed to a naming rights deal at Paul Brown Stadium — a first for the franchise — as it continues to grow into annual Super Bowl contenders under franchise quarterback Joe Burrow — one of the betting favorites for NFL MVP this season — and elite wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
The Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills could both be playoff teams in 2023, but their valuations — set at $3.6 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively — round out Forbes‘ bottom three.
