In July 1933, Art Rooney Sr. officially bought the Pittsburgh Steelers (then known as the Pittsburgh Pirates) for $2,500. Fast forward 90 years and let’s just say the Steelers are worth a couple of bucks more than that.
Forbes released its latest NFL franchise value projections, estimating that the Steelers are worth $4.63 billion, a 16-percent increase from last year, and the 18th-most valuable franchise in football. For those scoring at home, that’s a 184,000,000 percent increase from the purchase price. Call that a pretty solid ROI.
According to their data, the Steelers generated $548 million in revenue last season with an operating income of $96 million.
The 16-percent increase was about league average but still a healthy jump up, far higher than the Chicago Bears (eight percent), Los Angeles Chargers (seven percent), and even the newly owned Washington Commanders (eight percent). Their 2022 naming rights deal with Acrisure likely helped boost the revenue and value of the Steelers’ franchise.
Pittsburgh’s value has seen a big jump in just the last few years. In 2020, Forbes estimated they were worth $3 billion. New TV deals have helped boost the league’s revenue all the more, increasing each team’s value. Forbes also put the Steelers’ debt-to-value ratio at just four percent, a healthy number compared to the rest of the league.
Projecting a franchise’s worth is difficult and it’s essentially whatever someone – or some group – is willing to pay for it. The estimate feels on the low end of things. Earlier this year, the Washington Commanders were sold to Josh Harris for $6.05 billion, which still only placed them as the eighth-most valuable franchise across the NFL.
For a storied franchise like the Steelers, if the Rooney’s were ever going to sell (and to be clear, there’s zero indication of that), the interest would be high. Granted, Pittsburgh does not play in a marquee market like New York but the chance to run one of sport’s most successful franchises would drive investors to the table all while driving up the price tag.
The most valuable franchise came as no surprise. The Dallas Cowboys continue to hold the top spot with a $9 billion evaluation, two billion dollars more than the second-place New England Patriots. According to Forbes, the Cowboys’ revenue was $1.14 billion last year, a number no other team in the league came close to.
Coming in last are the Cincinnati Bengals at the “cheap” price of $3.5 billion. The Cleveland Browns are valued right behind the Steelers at $4.62 billion, which just seems wrong. The Baltimore Ravens are essentially tied with both at $4.63 billion, an odd clumping of AFC North squads with far different histories.
With Washington and Denver undergoing new ownership in recent years, it’s unclear what franchise could be up for sale next. It certainly won’t be the Steelers. The only thing they’re focused on ownership stake-wise is a shuffling of minority shares with Harris having to sell his in order to buy the Commanders.
