Dallas Cowboys become first sports franchise to be worth over $10 billion, per Sportico | CNN

CNN
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The Dallas Cowboys have become the first professional sports team to be valued at over $10 billion, according to Sportico’s 2024 NFL rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Cowboys, owned by Jerry Jones, were valued at $10.32 billion, far and away the most valuable franchise in the league and an increase of over a billion dollars on the previous estimate of $9.2 billion in February.

Jones, 81, purchased ‘America’s Team’ in 1989 for an estimated $140 million (roughly $355 million in 2024) and has turned the organization into a financial powerhouse. Also serving as the team’s general manager, he oversaw initial success and helped create one of the 90s’ most dominant teams, winning the Super Bowl in the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.

However, the Cowboys have struggled to replicate that magic in recent years and have only mustered five playoff wins in the 28 years since they last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Most recently, Dallas suffered an embarrassing loss in the Wild Card round against the Green Bay Packers in the 2023 postseason, despite finishing as the second seed in the NFC and having MVP runner-up Dak Prescott on the roster.

A relatively quiet offseason followed, even though Jones proclaimed that he and the team were “all in” on the 2024 campaign. The Cowboys remain immensely popular though, generating an estimated revenue of $1.2 billion in 2023, 50% higher than the second ranked NFL team, the Los Angeles Rams, according to Sportico.

The Rams are valued at $7.79 billion and leapfrogged the New York Giants to take second place but are not in the same stratosphere as Dallas. The New England Patriots remain at No. 4 on the list, despite on-field struggles and the departure of Bill Belichick – with a value of $7.31 billion while the San Francisco 49ers round out the top five at $6.86 billion.

The biggest risers from last year’s rankings are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who shoot up 12 places to No. 16 with a value $5.5 billion, an increase of 33%. The Los Angeles Chargers are the biggest fallers, dropping four spots to 22nd.

Per Sportico’s research, the average NFL franchise is worth $5.93 billion, an improvement of 15.4% over last year, as the league continues to be the world’s most financially successful in any sport in terms of team value.

At $4.71 billion, the Cincinnati Bengals are the league’s least valuable team – only 15 non-NFL franchises in Sportico’s February list of the top 100 most valuable sports teams had a value that exceeds the Bengals’ most recent estimate.