Name: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires 2021
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The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires 2021

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BETAThis is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by Jan 8, 2021,When the NFL playoffs kick off this Saturday, the New England Patriots will be watching the action on television. The squad has reached the Super Bowl nine times since 2000, the rookie year for quarterback Tom Brady, and taken home the trophy in six of those visits. But Brady is leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the postseason this year while the Patriots delivered their first losing season in two decades.The setback has not hurt the fortunes of Pats owner Robert Kraft, whose well-timed investments in non-NFL assets—as well as the enduring profits of football franchises—have delivered a winning year for the billionaire.Forbes pegs the enterprise value (equity plus net debt) of the Kraft family’s sports holdings at $5.3 billion, up $800 million from last year. The jump is the largest among sports owners and lands the group at No. 7 on the 2020 list of the World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires, up from eighth last year. The value of the Patriots increased by 7% in Forbes’ , adding $300 million to the Kraft empire. The coronavirus dented revenue in 2020, as it did for every NFL team, but the league’s profit machine is expected to resume in 2021. Starting in 2023, the NFL will be armed with a new round of TV deals worth perhaps $15 billion a year, double the current average.Timely investments in sports betting company  and gaming platform  have a combined value of more than $400 million. DraftKings went public in April via a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, and shares have tripled since then. The Kraft family also owns the New England Revolution (MLS), Kraft Analytics Group (sports data analytics) and Boston Uprising (esports franchise), as well as a small piece of UFC. Talent agency giant Endeavor paid $4 billion for the mixed-martial-arts promotion in 2016, and its current enterprise value is .The 20 most valuable sports empires have a combined enterprise value of more than $100 billion, led by Liberty Media at No. 1 with $13 billion. Controlled by billionaire John Malone, Liberty owns MLB’s Atlanta Braves, Formula One and small pieces of the Drone Racing League and Denver’s Ball Arena. Liberty is ranked for the first time after a change to the methodology from to include passive owners, as well as those who also manage their teams. The change also ranks the  (Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers and a minority stake in the Seattle Sounders) for the first time, landing at No. 9 with $5 billion. The 20 most valuable sports empires have a combined enterprise value of more than $100 billion, led by Liberty Media at No. 1 with $13 billion.Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which houses the wide-ranging sports assets of Stan Kroenke, follows Liberty at No. 2 with $8.7 billion. The Dallas Cowboys empire built by Jerry Jones is third at $7 billion.The values of top-tier sports assets, particularly teams, have held up extremely well during the pandemic. The  ($2.4 billion) and the  ($1.66 billion) both sold for rich valuations over the last six months while the  are on the market and attracting interest. Investors believe that revenue for major team sports will continue to climb in the years ahead as fans come back to stadiums and the value of media rights increases.A surging stock market and cheap financing also pushed up valuations and sparked interest from far beyond the billionaire class as a preponderance of  are being marketed to less wealthy retail investors. Fenway Sports Group  merging with RedBall Acquisition, a $575 million SPAC launched by private-equity firm RedBird Capital and Oakland A’s executive Billy Beane, who triggered baseball’s “Moneyball” revolution.In addition to the Red Sox, who  by 3% from a year ago, FSG owns Premier League soccer club , half of Nascar’s Fenway Roush Racing, 80% of regional sports network NESN and sponsorship business Fenway Sports Management. FSG ranks as the fourth-largest sports empire at $6.6 billion, flat from a year ago. While the baseball team rose in value, Fenway Roush and NESN both fell.$13 billionProperties: Formula One, Atlanta Braves, Drone Racing League*, Ball Arena*$8.73 billionProperties: Los Angeles Rams, Arsenal, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, Altitude Sports & Entertainment, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Guerrillas$6.98 billionProperties: Dallas Cowboys, Legends*, The Star, CompLexity Gaming$6.6 billionProperties: Boston Red Sox, Liverpool, NESN, Roush Fenway Racing, Fenway Sports Management$6.39 billionProperties: New York Yankees, Legends*, YES Network*, New York City FC*, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders$6.25 billionProperties: New York Knicks, New York Rangers$5.3 billionProperties: New England Patriots, New England Revolution, UFC*, Kraft Analytics Group, DraftKings*, Skillz*, Boston Uprising$5.25 billionProperties: Manchester United, Tampa Bay Buccaneers$5.03 billionProperties: Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Sounders*$4.82 billionProperties: Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC$4.04 billionProperties: Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts$3.83 billionProperties: New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans$3.76 billionProperties: San Francisco 49ers, Leeds United*, Elevate*$3.55 billionProperties: New York Jets$3.39 billionProperties: Los Angeles Dodgers, Spectrum SportsNet LA$3.13 billionProperties: Philadelphia Eagles$2.96 billionProperties: Miami Dolphins, International Champions Cup, Drone Racing League*$2.95 billionProperties: Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA Superstore$2.91 billionProperties: Los Angeles Lakers$2.88 billionProperties: Chicago Cubs, Marquee Sports NetworkTo compile our scorecard of the most valuable sports empires, we screened our database of the most valuable teams from the , , the , the and for people or companies whose holdings in these teams were above $2 billion. We use enterprise values, which reflect the cost of acquiring a business including debt. This diverges from Forbes’ net worth estimates for individuals, which are net of debt. Only those with a majority interest in at least one team were eligible. Thus, you won’t find on our list, despite his minority ownership in teams and the company’s dominance in sports apparel merchandise. for news on the world’s most important entrepreneurs and superstars, expert career advice and success secrets.My mentors were James Walker Michaels, Geoffrey N. Smith and William Baldwin. I started out in the statistics department of Forbes in the mid-'80s then transitioned to… Read MoreMy mentors were James Walker Michaels, Geoffrey N. Smith and William Baldwin. I started out in the statistics department of Forbes in the mid-'80s then transitioned to writing. I mainly wrote about high-priced stocks that I believed were doomed. Example: my story on CUC International pointed out how the company's aggressive accounting was masking a cash-flow problem. CUC's stock subsequently crashed and the CEO was convicted of fraud. My CUC story is the focus of a chapter in the 2004 book: Forbes Greatest Investing Stories (John Wiley & Sons) by Richard Phalon. I even wrote an Earnings Quality newsletter for Forbes for a brief period (I think it peaked at about 150 subscribers). These days I like to take lots and lots of numbers and turn them into proprietary concepts and multi-platform content. Three of my longstanding publishing creations: the valuations of sports teams, ranking actors and movie studios on bang for the buck (ROI) and the Forbes Fab 40 (the most valuable sports brands). My most recent non-sports idea was Names You Need To Know, which broadened my concept of list creation to include direct input from our audience. My latest creation was the "SportsMoney Index," which ranks the most valuable athletes, brands, teams and sports agencies based on a combination of their individual values, and value of the top athletes, brands, teams and agencies they do business with. I also have a passion for economics (my MBA thesis at Long Island University was an empirical study on the cause of inflation in which regression analysis showed a significant correlation between the general level of prices and the money supply). Besides being an Assistant Managing Editor at Forbes I also have a gig as co-host and Managing Editor of the four-time New York Emmy award winning Forbes SportsMoney on the YES Network and Fox Sports 1 with my buddies at YES, co-host Bob Lorenz and producer David Alfreds, both of whom have taught me a tremendous amount. One of my favorite affairs is being a guest every few weeks on Larry Kudlow's radio show on WABC Saturday mornings. Larry has been a great mentor and friend. My brother in arms is Kurt Badenhausen, whom I have worked with for many years and knows more about sports numbers than anyone. Read LessI am a senior editor at Forbes and focused mainly on the business of sports and our annual franchise valuations. I also spend a lot of my time digging into what athletes… Read MoreI am a senior editor at Forbes and focused mainly on the business of sports and our annual franchise valuations. I also spend a lot of my time digging into what athletes earn on and off the field of play. I've profiled a bunch of athletes that go by one name: LeBron, Shaq, Danica and others. I also started our biennial B-School rankings; annual features on the Best Places for Business (metros, states and countries); and America's Best Banks. I joined Forbes in 1998 after working 3 years at Financial World magazine. Email: kbadenhausen@forbes.com. Read Less

BETAThis is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by Jan 8, 2021,When the NFL playoffs kick off this Saturday, the New England Patriots will be watching the action on television. The squad has reached the Super Bowl nine times since 2000, the rookie year for quarterback Tom Brady, and taken home the trophy in six of those visits. But Brady is leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the postseason this year while the Patriots delivered their first losing season in two decades.The setback has not hurt the fortunes of Pats owner Robert Kraft, whose well-timed investments in non-NFL assets—as well as...

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Mike Ozanian

Forbes is an American business magazine. Published bi-weekly, it features original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. Forbes also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics, and law.

The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires 2021

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