The Carolina Panthers is ranked #26 among Forbes’ “World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams,” a list of the top 50 sports teams in the world. Of the professional football team, valued at $1.048 billion, Forbes reports “Charlotte’s city council approved an agreement in April to provide $87.5 million to renovate the Panthers’ 17-year-old venue Bank of America Stadium. Changes include new video boards and an improved sound system. The team agreed to stay in Charlotte for an additional six years in exchange for the funds.” Forbes has valued teams in the major sports leagues since 1998. The top 50 list is based on the valuations it’s done for the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, soccer, Nascar and Formula 1 over the past year.
In addition, the Durham Bulls tied for #15 in Forbes‘ “Minor League Baseball’s Most Valuable Teams.” The International League/AAA team, affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays, is valued at $24 million. Forbes notes the Durham Bulls are “likely the single most famous minor league baseball team in the world thanks to the 1988 baseball movie Bull Durham. The popularity certainly helps – the Bulls have ranked among the top 25 teams in merchandise sales every year since MiLB started tracking the data in 1993.” To find the most valuable teams, the magazine first limited its scope to franchises with MLB affiliations. That left a pool of 160 teams which was cut down to the top 35 teams in attendance last season; this makes sense because in-stadium revenue streams (ticket sales, luxury suites, parking, concessions, stadium naming rights and sponsorships) constitute almost the entirety of a team’s income, making home game attendance central to team value. It then used available audits, reports and stadium leases to build our estimates of team revenues and expenses in 2012, the most recently completed season. The final values are derived from multiples of revenue and attendance, using recent transactions as a guide.