Lions sit near the bottom of NFL franchise values
The Detroit Lions remain among the least-valuable NFL franchises and had a net operating loss in 2020. Those are among the financial reports from Forbes in the publications’ annual rankings of the most valuable pro sports franchises.
The Lions are 30th of the 32 NFL teams in terms of overall franchise value, with the team worth $2.4 billion. Only the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, each valued at $2.27 billion, are less than the Lions. Detroit trails behind the Cleveland Browns by $200 million for 29th place.
One reason for the Lions lowly ranking is that the team posted a net operating loss in 2020 according to Forbes’ figures. The team had a net operating income that was down $22.2 million last year. The lack of fan attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic certainly played a role.
Disregard the NFL’s 20% drop in revenue during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season, to an average of $381 million per team. Forget that operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) plummeted to an average of $7.1 million a team, from $109 million the previous season. The fact is, money came raining down on the NFL over the past year, pushing the value of the average team up 14%, to $3.48 billion, the biggest gain in five years.
The Dallas Cowboys lead the pack at $6.5 billion, a full $1.5 billion more than the second-place New England Patriots.
