The NFL has grown explosively over the past 25 years as TV revenue jumped 700 percent. The league’s 32 teams now divide $3.8 billion annually under the current round of broadcast deals, which expire after the 2013 season. With ratings at record levels, the next TV contracts are bound to be even more lucrative. Teams that were selling for $70 million in the mid-1980s are now worth $1 billion on average.
NFL owners claim they are not getting a big enough share of the league’s $9 billion in revenue, but a look at the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams shows how valuable NFL teams already are. The list is littered with NFL franchises – all 32 teams make the cut, led by the Dallas Cowboys, worth $1.81 billion. Yet the top franchise plays a different kind of football. English Premier League power Manchester United is the world’s most valuable sports team, worth $1.86 billion.
The Glazer family, which also owns the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 18 at $1.03 billion), bought United in 2005 for $1.5 billion, but quickly drew the wrath of fans after the purchase saddled the team with a massive debt load. Fans feared the team would not have the resources to pay top players. In November the Glazers paid off $330 million of the debt which now stands at $756 million, or 41 percent of the team’s value (the average debt-to-value ratio of the top 50 franchises is 26 percent). Even better for fans of the Red Devils, the team captured its record 19th English Premier League title this year and made the finals of the UEFA Champions League before falling to Barcelona (No. 26 on our list, worth $975 million).