Jerry Jones has 1,850,000,000 reasons to be happy he’s the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
According to estimates from Forbes magazine, the Cowboys are worth $1.85 billion, making them the highest-valued franchise in the NFL and tying them with the New York Yankees as the most valuable franchise in all of American sports. Jones, who spent an estimated $140 million to buy the Cowboys in 1989, has seen its value skyrocket over the last 23 years, and the team is expected to continue to thrive going forward thanks in large part to the Cowboys’ state-of-the-art new stadium. Not that Jones is hurting for money, but Forbes estimates that he’ll be able to make another $15 million a year or so in annual revenue if he sells the naming rights to Cowboys Stadium.
But it’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer who owns the most valuable franchise in all of sports: Forbes says the English soccer team Manchester United, owned by Glazer, is worth $2.23 billion.
The 10 most valuable sports franchises in the world include four NFL teams: The Cowboys, Redskins ($1.56 billion), Patriots ($1.4 billion) and Giants ($1.3 billion). The other teams in the Top 10 are European soccer teams Real Madrid, Barcelona and Arsenal, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
