5 Things To Know About The Most Valuable Franchises in Sports

Forbes is out with it's annual list of the most valuable franchises in sports, and I have to say some are a bit surprising.

View the full list here, but consider this as you review it:

1. New York is a good place to own a franchise regardless of the team's success. Four of the top 13 spots when can be found in the Empire State. The Yankees were second overall (valued at 3.7 billion), the awful Knicks ($3.3 billion) were seventh just ahead of the Giants ($ 3.3 billion). The Jets, yes the Jets, came in 13th, with an estimated worth of $2.75 billion.

2. Soccer took spots 3-thru-5. Manchester United ($3.69 billion), Barcelona ($3.64 billion) and Real Madrid ($3.58 billion). Of the top 50 franchises on the list, Real Madrid is the only one to have their estimated valued downgraded from last year - a 2% drop.

3. Forbes notes on their list, no one from the NHL, F1 or NASCAR made the Top 50.

4.Football is THE BOSS. Thirty of the top fifty most valuable franchises are NFL teams. Keep in mind, there are only 32 teams in the National Football League.

5. Winning championships doesn't mean you're the most valuable. The most prolific franchise in American sports for the past 15 years is unquestionably the New England Patiorts. They took the sixth slot ($3.4 billion). The Dallas Cowboys, however, took the No. 1 spot on the list with an estimated value of $4.2 billion. The NBA's Golden State Warriors have won 2 of the last 3 league championships but were listed tied for 20th, at $2.6 billion. Both the Knicks and Lakers were much higher (aka more valuable), despite the fact that I can't remember the last playoff game either of those two teams won. However, Golden State's 'value' has skyrocketed 37% compared to last year's Forbes estimates.