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The Dallas Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season, but they were successful in defending their title as the most valuable sports franchise in Forbes' annual list, which was released Wednesday. The Cowboys are worth $4.2 billion, giving them a comfortable lead over the second-place New York Yankees. The Yankees, who hold a value of $3.7 billion, were listed fourth in last year's rankings.
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Soccer clubs Manchester United ($3.69 billion), Barcelona ($3.64 billion) and Real Madrid ($3.58 billion) round out the top five.
The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots ($3.4 billion) are listed sixth, ahead of the New York Knicks ($3.3 billion), New York Giants ($3.1 billion), San Francisco 49ers ($3 billion) and the Los Angeles Lakers ($3 billion).
The Los Angeles Rams didn't make the list in 2016, but jumped to 12th this year due in large part to the franchise relocating from St. Louis to Southern California.
"Relocations and new stadiums are fueling big increases in the value of NFL teams, with the Cowboys the economic model every franchise hopes to match," Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor at Forbes Media, said in a statement. "(Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones turned a money-losing franchise into the most profitable sports franchise in the world as AT&T Stadium generates the highest sponsorship and premium seating revenue in the sport."
All told, 29 NFL teams made the list of 51 (there was a tie for 50th place between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Angels), while eight major league baseball clubs and seven NBA franchises were also included. The NHL and NASCAR did not have a team represented in the list.
The rankings are based on Forbes' valuations over the last year for all NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, soccer, NASCAR and Formula One teams.
