It’s been almost 30-years since they won their last Super Bowl, but–like Manchester United–their lustre, somehow, still shines and they remain the world’s richest sporting franchise. They’re the Dallas Cowboys and they’re worth an astonishing US$13 billion (£9.72bn).
Once again The Cowboys has topped the annual list of Forbes magazine’s “Most Valuable Sports Teams”, released yesterday (December 18).
The last time the Cowboys won the Super Bowl, the equivalent of American Football’s World Cup, was on January 28, 1996 when they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in a close fought game 21-17 in Super Bowl XXX.
In all the team has won five Super Bowls, as have the San Francisco 49ers, and appeared in eight Super Bowl finals.
Only two American football teams have won more, six each for the New England Patriots and Steelers.
Dominance
Their decades of football dominance were in the 70s when they won the Super Bowl in 1972 and 1978, beating the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos.
And in the mid-90s, when they were the football team sans pareil, winning the Super Bowl three times in four seasons – and cementing their reputation as “America’s Team”.
These days, perhaps unkindly, The Cowboys are probably better known for the glamour of their cheerleaders than the quality of their play – although, under the leadership of their star quarterback Dak Prescott, they are back as post-season Super Bowl play-off contenders.
They have led the super rich rankings since 2016 when they overtook perennial Spanish and European football (soccer) champions Réal Madrid as the world’s wealthiest sporting franchise.
Rich List
Today the list is dominated by U.S. sporting club’s, with the top 10 an all-American affair and only four soccer clubs–Réal Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern München and Liverpool F.C.–featuring in the top 50.
The NBA’s Golden State Warriors are second, valued at US$11 billion (£8.22bn), followed by the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, US$10.5 billion (£7.8bn) and New York Giants, US$$10.1 billion (£7.5bn). Hollywood favourites, basketball’s Los Angeles Lakers completes the top five with a worth of US$10 billion (£7.5bn).
As for Manchester United, another team living, largely, off past glories, like the Cowboys, they were valued at US$6.6 billion (£4.9bn) by the business glossy.
Premier League rivals Liverpool, in line with their current form, have dropped from 27th last year to joint-48th, and a valuation of US$5.4 billion (£4bn).
Other notables included Formula One’s Ferrari, valued at US$6.5 billion (£4.9bn), and Mercedes, worth US$6 billion (£4.5bn) and the New York Yankees, in 10th place with a valuation of US$8.2 billion (£6.1bn), making them baseball’s richest teams.
All told, the top 50 teams are worth a staggering US$$353 billion (£264.07bn) – more than the GDP of many of the world’s countries.
