The National Football League continues to widen its lead as the most valuable and fitable sports league in the world, with the average franchise now worth $7.65 billion, according to CNBC's Official NFL Team Valuations 2025.
That figure marks an 18% jump from last year.Eleven NFL teams are now valued at $8 billion or more, up from just two a year ago, according to CNBC's calculations.
Big-market teams with lucrative stadium revenues top CNBC's list.The Dallas Cowboys, worth $12.5 billion, retained their spot as the league's most valuable team, according to CNBC's calculations.
The Cowboys also posted the highest revenue in the NFL at $1.27 billion.
In 2024, the Cowboys generated $300 million in sponsorship revenue, by far the most in the NFL, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Los Angeles Rams, valued at $10.7 billion, are the second-most-valuable team, according to CNBC's calculations.
The team raked in nearly $250 million in sponsorship revenue in 2024, behind only the Cowboys, according to another person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Average team revenue during the 2024 season reached $687 million, up 7.3% from the previous year, according to CNBC's calculations.
That increase was fueled largely by national revenue — television, licensing and sponsorship ceeds d equally among the 32 franchises — which rose to an average of $433 million per team from $403 million the previous season, according to league executives.Average earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, climbed 7.9% in 2024 to $137 million, according to CNBC's calculations.The NFL's financial strength is underpinned by its ity and the value of its content.
NFL games accounted for 72 of the 100 most-watched U.S. telecasts in 2024, according to Nielsen.
Media rights deals now generate an average of $12.4 billion annually, according to a person familiar with the contracts, who asked to remain unnamed because they were not authorized to speak publicly.The value of the league's content extends beyond rights fees.
Early last month, Walt Disney's ESPN and the NFL agreed to a deal in which Disney would acquire the NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the distribution rights to NFL RedZone in exchange for a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
Analysts and insiders estimate the NFL's stake in ESPN could be worth between $2 billion and $3 billion.
The deal is also expected to significantly boost EBITDA because it will shift a lot of duction costs from the NFL to ESPN, according to league executives.The NFL also holds a small ownership stake in Paramount Skydance through a joint venture between Skydance Sports and the league.Team owners have been capitalizing on the league's ity and financial strength by selling stakes to limited partners.
While there have been only three investments by private equity firms in NFL teams since the league allowed such deals a year ago, the rule change has had a found effect on sale prices, because private equity firms — which have lined up in front of nearly every NFL team, according to sports bankers — have set a floor on valuations and erased concerns over liquidity.Arctos Partners purchased stakes in the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers, while Ares Management acquired a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins.
Historically, investors would expect a 20% to 25% discount on valuation if they were looking to buy a small stake that would give them no say in how the team is run or offer a path to control.
But that cheaper investment has largely been eviscerated, according to a cadre of sports bankers CNBC interviewed.
The bankers spoke on the condition of anonymity because they worked on many of the transactions that took place.NFL team ownership tends to be much more multigenerational than that of other leagues.
There is tremendous demand to be part of NFL team ownership and, relative to other leagues, very few sales or transfers of ownership stakes give a buyer controlling interest in a team.The NFL's ownership rules require the person with a controlling interest to own at least 30% of the team and have a maximum of $1.5 billion of debt on the team and stadium.
The sports bankers told CNBC that people who are wealthy but don't have the super wealth to buy a controlling stake are willing to purchase a small minority stake at an amount that would buy a controlling interest in another league.The Chicago Bears saw the biggest one-year jump in valuation this year, up 39.1% to $8.9 billion.
A deal pending NFL apval would have the existing owners of the team, the McCaskey and Ryan families, purchase a 2.3% stake owned by the estate of Andrew McKenna Sr.
at an NFL record $8.9 billion valuation, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Before the Bears deal, the previous record-high price paid for a minority stake in an NFL team was $8.6 billion, for a 6.2% piece of the San Francisco 49ers in May.
The 49ers had topped an $8.3 billion valuation for an 8% stake in the Philadelphia Eagles at the end of 2024.
The New York Giants are currently looking to sell a 10% stake at a $10 billion valuation.At such rich valuations and with private equity firms eager for a piece of the action, more minority stake sales are expected over the coming months.MethodologyCNBC's Official NFL Team Valuations are current enterprise values — equity plus net debt — calculated using revenue multiples and include the economics of the team's stadium, including non-NFL revenue that accrues to the team's owner.The valuations exclude the value of the stadium real estate and other es owned by the team.
For example, the value of the Dallas Cowboys excludes The Star, the team's 91-acre headquarters, practice facility and commercial real estate.Values are adjusted for teams whose stadium economics are expected to imve soon, such as the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans, who are scheduled to move into new stadiums in 2026 and 2027, respectively.CNBC adjusts values for teams that have secured financing for significant stadium imvements, such as the Cincinnati Bengals, who are getting $350 million from Hamilton County in Ohio for a $470 million renovation of Paycor Stadium.Revenue and EBITDA figures are for the 2024 season and are on a cash basis rather than an accrual basis.
Debt figures are the available and include both team debt and stadium debt.CNBC deducts the cost of goods sold from merchandise sales.
Therefore, CNBC excluded the $23 million noncash GAAP accrual each team had to set aside in 2024 for potential concussion lawsuit settlements and included the slightly less than $2 million every team received for a stock sale made by 32 Equity, the league's investment arm, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Sources for CNBC's Official NFL Team Valuations include team owners, investors and executives; sports bankers and league consultants; public documents such as stadium lease agreements, stadium authority budgets and audits, and credit rating reports; and sponsorship and broadcasting industry executives.Figures that could not be confirmed with sources are CNBC estimates.
Some figures used in the calculation of values may be apximate.CNBC's Official NFL Team Valuations 2025RankTeamValueRevenueEBITDADebt as % of valueOwner(s)1Dallas Cowboys$12.5B$1.27B$577M2%Jerry Jones2Los Angeles Rams$10.7B$875M$252M28%Stanley Kroenke3New York Giants$10.5B$765M$211M4%John Mara, Steven Tisch4Las Vegas Raiders$9.3B$832M$202M14%Mark Davis5New England Patriots$9.25B$789M$220M4%Robert Kraft6New York Jets$9.1B$730M$199M6%Woody Johnson, Christopher Johnson7Chicago Bears$8.9B$627M$74M1%The McCaskey family, Ryan family8San Francisco 49ers$8.6B$745M$113M3%The York family9Miami Dolphins$8.55B$740M$158M6%Stephen Ross10Philadelphia Eagles$8.5B$735M$124M2%Jeffrey Lurie11Atlanta Falcons$8B$750M$179M11%Arthur Blank12Washington Commanders$7.4B$670M$149M14%Josh Harris13Green Bay Packers$7.35B$695M$116M1%Publicly owned nonfit14Tampa Bay Buccaneers$7.3B$685M$129M2%The Glazer family15Houston Texans$7.25B$673M$135M1%The McNair family16Denver Broncos$7.2B$651M$99M3%Greg Penner, Rob Walton17Cleveland Browns$7.15B$658M$102M5%Jimmy Haslam, Dee Haslam18Kansas City Chiefs$7.1B$643M$87M1%The Lamar Hunt family19Seattle Seahawks$7B$638M$137M3%Paul G.
Allen estate20Pittsburgh Steelers$6.85B$634M$136M3%Arthur Rooney II21Minnesota Vikings$6.8B$624M$83M7%The Wilf family22Tennessee Titans$6.65B$596M$106M12%Amy Adams Strunk23Baltimore Ravens$6.62B$608M$94M4%Steve Bisciotti24Jacksonville Jaguars$6.6B$607M$150M5%Shad Khan25Los Angeles Chargers$6.5B$600M$125M12%The Spanos family, Tom and Holly Gores26Carolina Panthers$6.4B$610M$39M3%David Tepper27Detroit Lions$6.35B$600M$27M4%The William Clay Ford family28Indianapolis Colts$6.3B$600M$96M8%Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, Kalen Jackson29New Orleans Saints$6.1B$606M$114M4%Gayle Benson30Cincinnati Bengals$6.05B$582M$46M2%Mike Brown31Buffalo Bills$6B$589M$57M8%Terry Pegula, Kim Pegula32Arizona Cardinals$5.9B$580M$51M3%Michael Bidwill