Real Madrid still world's most valuable sports team
Real Madrid retained their title as the world's most valuable sports franchise, according to a poll released by Forbes on Wednesday that was again dominated by American NFL teams.
17 July 2014, 10:48am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
1 min read
Real Madrid's captain Iker Casillas and team mates celebrate with the trophy after defeating Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final
American football clubs held the top three positions with the European champions valued at $3.44 billion (£2.01 billion), topping the list for the second consecutive year.
They were followed by La Liga rivals Barcelona at $3.2 billion (£1.87 billion) and Premier League club Manchester United at number three at $2.81 billion (£1.64 billion), Forbes said in a statement.
Major League Baseball's New York Yankees occupy the number four spot valued at $2.5 billion (£1.46 billion) while the NFL's Dallas Cowboys are worth $2.3 billion (£1.34 billion).
Rounding out the top 10 were MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers (£1.17 billion), Bayern Munich (£1.08 billion), NFL's New England Patriots (£1.05 billion), NFL's Washington Redskins (£1 billion) and NFL's New York Giants (£900 million).
With 30 teams in the top 50, for the second consecutive year, the NFL occupies 60 per cent of this year's list.
The average value of the top 50 teams is $1.34 billion (£780 million), an eight per cent increase from last year.
Four National Basketball Association franchises made the Forbes list with the New York Knicks coming in 13th with a value of $1.4 billion (£820 million) while the Toronto Maple Leafs were the only National Hockey League team to make the cut at number 26 with a value of $1.15 billion (£670 million).
Ferrari are the only Formula One team on the list coming in 21st with a worth of $1.2 billion (£700 million) while McLaren, Oakland Raiders (NFL) and New York Mets (MLB) dropped from the top 50 this year.
