It’s no secret that the Giants, Yankees, and Knicks are huge brands. In fact, all of the professional sports teams representing New York City carry large fanbases and benefit from access to the largest media market in the country. However, it’s easy to forget just how valuable some of the New York sports teams really are.
Forbes recently released their list of the most valuable sports teams in the world, and three of the top ten teams reside in New York City. No other city has more than one team in the top ten. Even if you look at the top fifteen instead, things are still skewed towards New York. The Jets sit at thirteen, not that far from their neighbors, and they ensure that NYC has four teams in the top fifteen.
As for everyone else? Los Angeles has the Dodgers, Rams, and Lakers. They’re the only city other than New York to have more than one team in the list’s top fifteen, with major sports cities such as Boston and Chicago failing to make it. The Patriots are the sixth most valuable team in the world and edge out the Giants by two spots, but the Red Sox are the next most valuable team in the city and they’re further down the list at sixteen.
The Dallas Cowboys are at the top of the list again, but a New York team is just behind them. The Yankees, as one of the most consistently strong brands in their sport, are the second most valuable team not just in MLB but in the entire world of sports.
To take their spot, they had to beat out Manchester United, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona, all of which are are European soccer teams that can also boast about having a global following. They’re followed up by the Knicks, who managed to beat out both the Giants to be the second most valuable team in New York and the Lakers to be the most valuable team in the NBA.
The Mets are much further down the list than their rivals, but their valuation isn’t anything to laugh at. The Mets are worth roughly two billion, which is more than the historically successful St. Louis Cardinals as well as popular London soccer clubs Arsenal FC and Chelsea.
Near the bottom of the list is the final New York team to be represented, somehow finding themselves above both of the city’s NHL teams. Yes, the Brooklyn Nets are one of the fifty most valuable teams in the world. And yes, their selling price would be over a billion. Pretty good for a team that only managed 28 wins out of 82 games in their most recent season.