NFL owners debated for several years about opening their league to institutional investors, and if they did, what it might mean for franchise values. The pro-PE crowd finally got its way 12 months ago, albeit with more restrictions than the other major U.S. leagues.
The early returns are in, and the move looks like a gold mine for team owners. The average team is now worth $7.13 billion, up 20% from a year ago. The 32 franchises are collectively worth $228 billion, including team-related businesses and real estate.
“Private equity represents a sea change for the NFL, and you have almost every team talking to the approved PE firms,” Jeffrey Kaplan, Andalusian Sports Advisors co-founder, said in a video interview. “It makes a lot of sense for NFL teams to consider the role of minority private equity capital.”
The Dallas Cowboys lead the way, as they have in all six years of Sportico’s NFL valuations, at $12.8 billion, up 24%. Last year, America’s Team became the first sports franchise to crack the $10 billion barrier, and two other NFL teams topped the milestone in 2025: the Los Angeles Rams ($10.43 billion) and New York Giants ($10.25 billion). The Cincinnati Bengals are the least valuable at $5.5 billion.
For comparison, Sportico’s average team values in other U.S. sports leagues have the average NBA team at $4.6 billion, MLB team at $2.82 billion and NHL team at $1.79 billion.
Sportico’s estimated valuations are for control-sale transactions where a new owner takes over. Click for a ranking of all 32 teams and methodology, and for our database comparing the teams.
Team Sales
There have been only three NFL team sales in the past 10 years: the Washington Commanders (2023), Denver Broncos (2022) and Carolina Panthers (2018). Scarcity is a major driver in pushing sports team values higher, as more billionaires are minted each year and franchises are rarely added. The NFL, NBA and MLB have not expanded in more than 20 years, and the average NFL ownership tenure is 41 years—with a median of 31 years.
The new PE rules might lengthen that tenure. “The monetization of ownership can solve generational issues, from a trust, estate or tax perspective,” Kaplan said. “It creates the ability for legacy families to hold the asset forever, where you don’t face the day where liquidity becomes an issue.”
The last NFL team to change hands was when Josh Harris led a group that paid $6.05 billion for the Commanders, but there have been a flurry of LP sales during the past 12 months since funds were approved. They provide a sense of where a control sale would land.
Sportico spoke with more than 35 team owners, executives, investors, bankers, consultants and lawyers over the past month, and almost no one thinks these LP deal values are at premiums to control ones, as can happen in startup leagues or tiny stakes. The deals are not one-size-fits-all, but most have been priced around control valuations or at discounts in some cases.
The Philadelphia Eagles sold 8% to a pair of family investors at an $8.3 billion valuation. Individuals also purchased 10.6% of the Buffalo Bills ($5.8 billion) and 6.2% of the San Francisco 49ers ($8.6 billion). In late 2024, Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban and Discovery Land Company founder Michael Meldman bought a combined 15% of the Las Vegas Raiders ($6.5 billion).
Individuals also purchased 3% of the Miami Dolphins ($8.1 billion), which included holdings in the F1 Miami Grand Prix that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross also controls. Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores bought 27% of the Los Angeles Chargers, but a stake that big with no path to control meant a significantly discounted valuation of $4 billion.
The Bills (Arctos Partners) and Dolphins (Ares Management) also sold their 10% allotment to private equity, and Arctos bought 8% of the Chargers at a valuation north of $6 billion. Several of these teams were sitting on the sidelines waiting for PE to be approved before shopping their LP stakes.
Most of the transactions have been completed with individuals or families, instead of institutional funds. The PE firms have typically priced the assets lower than individuals.
Yet, the PE firms that have invested in sports leagues in recent years deserve some credit for the influx of private buyers. Arctos has been the most aggressive, with stakes in more than 20 teams. The firm helped establish sports as a viable asset class, with non-correlated returns and prices that have not traditionally declined, even during a global recession or pandemic.
Sure, the check sizes are bigger in the NFL and NBA, but for family offices with $100 million to invest, sports teams are now viewed as a reasonable allocation alongside stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate. The NFL also offers something unique in sports: no capital calls, as every team turns a profit.
NFL teams historically were purchased by one person buying more than 80% of the equity, e.g., Rob Walton (Broncos), David Tepper (Panthers), Terry Pegula (Bills), Jimmy Haslam (Cleveland Browns) and Shad Khan (Jacksonville Jaguars).
In contrast, Harris’ deal involved 20 limited partners, with Harris buying roughly the NFL’s minimum 30% for new buyers. Harris, who began his career in private equity with Apollo before getting into team ownership, called the Commanders “one of the hardest deals” he’s ever done, but he broke down the wall on a new path to buy one of these assets as they soar in value.
The NFL has revised its ownership rules following recent team sales. The cross-city ownership prohibition was eliminated a year after Tepper bought Carolina. PE came to the NFL the year following Harris’ D.C. buy. The NFL has consistently raised the NFL debt limit, most recently in May to $800 million per team, with an additional $700 million available for new buyers, and it will continue to increase. The NFL will likely bump its current PE cap of 10% and approve more firms. Lowering the 30% equity requirement, however, might take longer unless the world runs out of decabillionaires who want teams.
As in other sports leagues, the revenue multiples bankers and investors use in valuing teams has expanded. It was 6.3 five years ago in the NFL and is now 10.3. It slots the NFL behind the WNBA (12) and NBA (11.9), which both will see revenues step up under their new $77 billion TV contract. Next up is MLS (9.4), NHL (7.7), NWSL (6.8) and MLB (6.6). Sportico values the 30 most valuable non-MLS soccer clubs at an average of 4.9 times revenue.
League Economics
The 32 NFL teams generated an estimated $22.2 billion, including net revenue from non-NFL events, such as concerts, at stadiums where teams own or operate the buildings. It was up 8% versus 2023. Total NFL revenue topped $23 billion in 2024, as some revenue stays at the league level. It is well ahead of the pace needed to meet commissioner Roger Goodell’s 2010 revenue target of $25 billion by 2027—which raised eyebrows at the time, when league revenues were $8 billion.
The average revenue per team was $692 million, which includes $460 million from equally shared media, sponsorships, licensing and ticket revenue. The guaranteed annual check from the league office makes it impossible to lose money operating a team—the salary cap was $255 million, with each team also on the hook for $74 million in benefits.
The average estimated team profit was $151 million, based on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The range was $80 million for the 49ers, which were saddled with high cash player costs in 2024, to $490 million for the Cowboys.
Local revenue for most NFL teams ranges from $160 million to $240 million, paling in comparison to national revenue. It leads to most teams being valued in a relatively narrow range of $5.5 billion to $6.6 billion.
The 49ers led the NFL in ticket revenue for the third straight year at $176 million after local taxes but before the visiting teams’ share—NFL bylaws require teams to share 34% of ticket revenue with other clubs. They were followed by Dallas ($136 million), Philadelphia ($130 million), Denver ($129 million) and Miami ($127 million). The Tennessee Titans ($81 million), Indianapolis Colts ($83.3 million) and Arizona Cardinals ($83.4 million) ranked at the bottom. The Eagles ranked third in 2024 net gate receipts despite losing a home game when they “hosted” the Packers in Brazil last year.
The Cowboys operate on a different plane than the rest of NFL franchises. They post more than twice as much profit as any other team, and only the Rams are within 50% of the Cowboys $820 million in local revenue. LaLiga club Real Madrid is the only sports franchise in the world that posted higher revenue last year with $1.4 billion. The Cowboys’ EBITDA was $200 million higher.
The Cowboys run a multi-pronged business. They are the only team that operates outside of the league’s shared merchandise system. Sales dipped last year, as injuries and on-field losses dampened fan enthusiasm, but it is still a nearly $200 million-a-year business. The team’s 91-acre, $1.5 billion headquarters and practice facility, The Star, opened in 2016 and expanded the team’s real estate empire with its mixed-use development. The Cowboys and New York Yankees launched hospitality company Legends to run concessions at their venues, and the venture now works with several hundred clients globally across every major sports league.
What’s Next
The Cowboys and Jerry Jones were ahead of their time in expanding their business and brand beyond just a football team. NFL teams operated for decades following the same formula of collecting ticket revenue, selling a few beers and hot dogs, and getting a check from the league office.
The model evolved as stadiums were built that prioritized premium seating and teams were granted more sponsorship rights after a nudge (and lawsuit) by Jones in the 1990s. NFL teams generated nearly $2 billion from premium seating in 2024, and team sponsorship revenue was an estimated $2.3 billion.
Teams are ready to take the next step.
“NFL teams as businesses have evolved significantly over the last decade, and they’re going to evolve at a much faster rate over the next decade,” Marc Ganis, a consultant to multiple NFL teams, said in a phone interview. “Most of these teams understand that they are global brands. So, they’re operating differently, they’re structuring themselves differently, and they’re hiring differently.”
The Commanders fit this bill. They were the NFL’s most valuable and profitable team before business fell off a cliff under prior owner Dan Snyder. Harris wants to restore the club to the top of the financial table. To help do that, he lured Mark Clouse from Campbell’s, where he was CEO of the $10 billion-in-revenue company, to be president of the Commanders.
This month, the Washington, D.C., city council voted to support a $3.8 billion, mixed-used stadium district, including a new stadium for the Commanders. A 65,000-seat domed stadium on the site of RFK Stadium is the planned center of a 180-acre retail, housing and entertainment development in the southeast part of the district. A final vote on taxpayer funding is set for Sept. 17.
The Commanders are targeting 2030 for a stadium opening, and three other buildings should open before then, in Buffalo (2026), Tennessee (2027) and Cleveland (2029)—each with taxpayer subsidies of at least $600 million. The Chicago Bears continue their quest to build a new venue. All five teams have recently been stuck in the bottom half of the NFL’s revenue rankings.
The NFL has several levers ahead that will goose revenue further and provide more runway for valuations to increase. The league moved to 17 regular-season games in 2021 and is already talking about moving to 18 in place of a preseason contest. The swap means more stadium revenue—tickets for games that count are twice as high in Green Bay and other cities—and likely another week of TV rights fees.
Tapping into international markets is still in the first quarter and is about driving fandom that will support more TV dollars and sponsorships. “The NFL wants teams to be entrepreneurial internationally,” Ganis said. “And that is a major shift.” Ganis also thinks the league will benefit as technology advances with its broadcasts. “Direct-to-consumer game broadcasts are in their early stages, with great growth opportunities,” he said. Finally, he thinks gambling still has at least two iterations to go.
The biggest revenue lever ahead for the NFL that will benefit all clubs is the 2029 media opt-out. The NFL has multiple ways it can play the contractual option, but whatever path it takes, it almost certainly will lead to higher TV revenue after the NBA’s new TV pacts have NBC paying more annually for its basketball package than football and ESPN almost at par.
Owners are increasingly using football teams and stadiums as a tentpole to move into other avenues. In February, the Kansas City Chiefs launched Foolish Club Studios, a production studio to develop original scripted and unscripted content. The move followed the success of the team’s collaboration with the Hallmark Channel, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, the No. 1 cable movie in 2024.
Stephen Ross generates at least $50 million in cash flow annually from the F1 race he hosts around Hard Rock Stadium. The Rams’ SoFi Stadium is the centerpiece of Hollywood Park complex, which spans nearly 300 acres and is the largest urban mixed-use development under construction in the Western United States. In April, Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced plans for a 52-acre neighborhood development in Woodland Hills, Calif., that will include the permanent headquarters of the Rams and a new mixed-use development.
The NFL’s $22.2 billion in revenue would rank No. 196 on the Fortune 500, but few companies command more attention from the U.S. population, and teams continue to see myriad business opportunities to tap that monetization disparity.
In other words, NFL values have room to grow.
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