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Chiefs ascend Forbes’ ratings of most valuable sports franchises

If you’re wondering what back-to-back Super Bowl appearance did for the value of the Kansas City Chiefs franchise, we now have a pretty good idea.

Forbes has again published its annual list of the 50 most valuable sports franchises and the Chiefs remain among the 50 most valuable sports franchises in the world. In one of the weirdest years in sports where financials were expected to take a big hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kansas City continues to be on the slow-and-steady rise.

In 2018, the team had seen a 12% increase in value and was ranked at No. 43. In 2019, the list saw the Chiefs worth $2.1 billion and ranked No. 47 with no increase in value. In 2020, Clark Hunt’s team saw a 7.7% increase in value to $2.3 billion, placing them at No. 45 on the list. This year the team saw its value increase by $200 million dollars (8.7%), bringing the total valuation to $2.5 billion, which was good enough to push the team to No. 43 on Forbes’ list. Over the past five years, Forbes estimates a 63% change in value.

When you consider that this franchise only cost Lamar Hunt $25K back in 1960, I’d say it has been a pretty great return on investment for the Hunt family. I can’t help but wonder if this team won’t outgrow their small market in Kansas City one day. If the team played elsewhere would they be worth more than some of their top competitors?

If you look around the AFC West, the Chiefs are last in valuation coming in behind the Chargers by $100 million. The Raiders and Broncos are both over $500 million more valuable despite a general lack of on-field success over the past five seasons. I doubt the Hunt family would ever consider leaving Kansas City, but it’ll be interesting to see what their growth continues to look like as they employ one of the most exciting players in the league in Patrick Mahomes and a great team around him.

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