The Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers are the most valuable teams in the NBA, according to this year’s annual valuation by Sportico.
The Warriors are valued at $9.14 billion, the Knicks at $8.3 billion, and the Lakers at $8.07 billion, according to the report. The Warriors are considered the second most valuable sports franchise in the United States, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL, valued at $10.3 billion.
The valuation includes the real estate owned by team owners as well as business ventures related to the teams, such as WNBA franchises.
The average value of an NBA team is $4.6 billion, marking a 15% increase from last year and nearly doubling compared to four years ago.
The Warriors, who are launching a WNBA expansion team (Golden State Valkyries) next year, saw their value increase by 10% compared to 2023. The Knicks experienced a 12% rise, while the Lakers’ value grew by 10%.
The Brooklyn Nets rank fourth on the list, valued at $5.7 billion, a 43% rise from their 13th-place ranking last year. Billboard magazine reported that the Nets’ Barclays Center is the most profitable arena in the world as of April.
The top 10 is rounded out by the Los Angeles Clippers ($5.68 billion), the Boston Celtics, which are up for sale ($5.66 billion), the Chicago Bulls ($5.56 billion), the Miami Heat ($5 billion), the Houston Rockets ($4.77 billion), and the Toronto Raptors ($4.66 billion).
Among the top 10 teams, only the Lakers and Celtics do not own their arenas.
The three lowest-ranked teams on the list are the Minnesota Timberwolves ($3.29 billion), New Orleans Pelicans ($3.09 billion), and Memphis Grizzlies ($3.06 billion).
According to Sportico, NBA teams have the highest value-to-revenue ratio of any major sports league in the United States. In this ranking, MLS (soccer) is second, followed by the NFL (football), NHL (hockey), WNBA, NWSL (women’s soccer), and MLB (baseball).
By Panagiotis Zarkadis
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Source: ANA-MPA
