Forbes yesterday posted their annual list of the 50 most valuable sports franchises in the world, and the Pittsburgh Steelers come out ranked 27th.
Though the Steelers can claim to hold the most Super Bowl titles, they are only the 14th-most valuable franchise among NFL teams.
The Steelers are valued at $1.118 billion according to Forbes, which is a far cry from the value of Real Madrid, the most valuable sports team in the world, worth a total of $3.44. The top three franchises, in fact, are soccer teams.
The New York Yankees are unsurprisingly the most valuable franchise in North America, but the Dallas Cowboys, the self-proclaimed ‘America’s Team’, is right behind them as the fifth-most valuable franchise with a value of $2.3 billion.
The vast majority of the other most valuable NFL franchises ahead of the Steelers are not particularly surprising. Most of them reside in major markets, such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and the like.
Others, meanwhile, have experienced a tremendous amount of success recently, such as the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and Green Bay Packers.
Pittsburgh is certainly not one of the biggest markets in the league, however, so for the Steelers organization to be ranked so high is still impressive.
It’s even more impressive considering where it all came from back in 1933, and considering the fact that the organization is still owned by the Rooney family.
The Steelers, meanwhile, are expanding their stadium for the first time since the new one was built, if I’m not mistaken. Heinz Field is expected to see the additional of 3000 more seats scheduled to be installed for the 2015 season.
According to Forbes, the average team in the top 50 list is worth $1.34 billion, which means the Steelers are slightly behind the average in that regard. That value is an eight percent increase from the average value just a year ago.
38 franchises around the world are worth at least $1 billion. A year ago, only 33 franchises could claim to be worth that price.
The article also says that there wasn’t a franchise in the world worth $2 billion just three years ago, yet now, in 2014, there are six, including two worth over $3 billion.
Also of note, 30 of the top 50 most valuable franchises in the world come from the ranks of the NFL, meaning that just two teams don’t make the list. Those are the Oakland Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars, and given the current state of not only their teams, but their franchises and structure, it’s not particularly surprising.
