| 25 August 2010
Forbes has released their annual report on the value of NFL franchises.I realize there valuation lists do more to drive page views at Forbes.com than anything else, but they give at least a rough estimate as to the value of sports franchises, and just how much pro sports owners make, despite their habit of crying poor whenever a CBA is mentioned.
The NFL's true colors
The most valuable NFL franchise is the Dallas Cowboys, at a staggering $1.8 billion. As they like to say, everything is bigger in Texas...even the worth of America's (so-called) Team, the Cowboys.
The franchise with the least amount of value is the Jacksonville Jaguars, at a piddling $725 million (that's million with a lower case m), which was to be expected considering their location (I was in Jacksonville once, there's no there, there), lack of an established history on and off the field, mediocre record, and struggles at the box office.
This shows just how powerful the NFL is when the team with the lowest value is worth hundreds of millions more than the most valuable NBA and NHL teams (Lakers at $607M and Maple Leafs at $470M). The small market Jags would be just out of the top five (all huge market franchises) in MLB.
By this time I'm sure you're asking, "That's all well and good, but how the Hell much are the Lions worth?"
In layman's terms, the Lions are worth a metric shit-ton of money, that's how much. A metric shit-ton = $817 million.
Laughing Boy is laughing all the way...to several banks
William Clay Ford bought the Lions for $4.5 million in 1964. That's a return on investment of 18,055.6%, an average yearly return of 387.3%.
Loan sharks, ponzi schemers and Vegas casinos dream of doing so well.
But it's worth noting the Lions lost money last year, and in three of the last four. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. They've sucked on the field, ruining attendance and merchandise sales, and gem though it may be, the Lions carry more than their share of debt on Ford Field.
The Detroit Lions (owned by auto scion William Clay Ford) are one of only two teams to lose money ($2.9 million) last season on an operating basis (the Miami Dolphins lost $7.7 million). This marks the third time in four years the Lions have posted an operating loss.
The team is burdened with a hefty debt load of $350 million thanks to the Lions' contribution to the $440 million Ford Field, which opened in 2002. The Lions have struggled to sell tickets since becoming the first NFL team to ever finish winless in a 16-game season in 2008. The Lions had half of its eight home games blacked out last year as it failed to sell out 72 hours before kickoff. The team cut ticket prices on 19,000 seats for this season in hopes of boosting attendance.
Despite a valuation of well north 3/4 of a billion, $817M only places the Lions in the lower tier of have-not NFL franchises, rated 27th overall in value.
Thing is, even factoring the bad economy and shrinking population in the city proper, the Detroit metro area remains a big market, the 11th largest in the nation. If the Lions had been run even semi-competently over the past decade, the franchise would easily be worth more than a billion. EASILY. That would put the Lions in the upper half of NFL teams, as Forbes has the Miami Dolphins ranked 16th overall at a hair over $1 billion (Teams ranked 16th overall and above are valued at $1B plus, 17th and below have values in the hundreds of millions...as if that's anything to thumb your nose at.)
But it wasn't, and they aren't.
Not that it makes much difference to the old man, who has a net worth of $1.2 billion. He's not hurting, even if the Lions are losing money. $2.9M is scotch money for Ford.
Really, really good scotch...
...And lots of it.
The funny part of these crazy evaluations is the owners cry poor whenever the CBA comes up for negotiation. It's impossible to take those cries seriously when owning an NFL franchise is a license to print money.
When you are approved for NFL ownership, you get one of these
If you're wondering, here's the valuations of the other three pro franchises in Detroit.
- MLB: Tigers, $375M, 22nd overall
- NBA: Pistons, $479M, 4th overall
- NHL: Red Wings, $337M, 4th overall
All better run franchises on and off the field, all worth a relative pittance compared to the Lions.
No one ever said life was fair.
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