Sporticast: Breaking Down NFL Valuations, ESPN’s Betting Aspirations
On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including Sportico‘s most recent NFL valuations. The Dallas Cowboys remain the most valuable sports team in the world, at $9.2 billion, followed by the New York Giants ($7.04 billion), Los Angeles Rams ($6.94 billion), New England Patriots ($6.7 billion) and San Francisco 49ers ($6.15 billion).
The hosts discuss the strength of the NFL’s business. There are teams in all the other major U.S. leagues that lose money, but none in the NFL, which has robust revenue sharing and a hard salary cap. Annual team profits across the league, according to Sportico, range from $65 million on the low end to $460 million on the top end.
More from Sportico.com
A Guaranteed Conundrum: Lessons From the Lamar Jackson Negotiation
Bob Iger Talks ESPN Partner Search, Scoffs at Apple Takeover Rumors
Portnoy Gets Barstool for a Dollar as Penn Writes Off $850 Million
That higher number, of course, is the Cowboys. Jerry Jones’ team is running laps around the rest of the league when it comes to local revenue, driven largely by the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium and the cash register that is The Star practice facility and surrounding development. The Cowboys also have a separate licensing business, which Jones separated from the rest of the NFL more than a decade ago.
Lastly, the hosts discuss ESPN finally making the jump into sports betting. The Disney unit announced earlier this week a 10-year licensing deal, worth $2 billion in cash and equity, to rebrand Penn Entertainment’s Barstool Sportsbook as ESPN Bet. As part of the transaction, Penn is essentially giving Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy. Penn previously paid more than $550 million to acquire the business in two parts.
(You can subscribe to Sporticast through Apple, Google, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts.)
