As the worth of NFL teams continues to rise every year, the Raiders are not keeping up, according to Forbes. Moving into the top spot this year were the Dallas Cowboys at an estimated worth of $4 billion. That’s up from a $3.2 billion worth in 2015 and it knocked Real Madrid out of the number one spot.
That top 50 continues though all sports franchises and includes 27 of the 32 NFL franchises among them. The five not ranked were Bills, Bengals, Lions, Rams, and Raiders.
Not being in the top 50 is nothing new for the Raiders -- this is the third straight year they weren’t on the list. Last year their estimated worth was approximately $1.43 billion. And with the final team in the top 50 being the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are valued at $1.48 billion, that would suggest the Raiders either didn’t gain in value or didn’t gain much.
The last time the Raiders were inside the Forbes Top 50 was 2013 when they were at number 50 exactly. In 2014, they were one of just two teams not in the Top 50 along with the Jaguars. Even still, the Raiders held the least value of any NFL team, which you’d have to assume is still the case as it has been for some time now.
If you are thinking their lack of perceived value has something to do with the city in which they play, that would be proven false by the Golden State Warriors who came in at 29 with a worth of $1.9 billion.
To save you from having to click through the Forbes.com ad laden, slow-moving, ridiculous, click-generating slideshow, here are the 27 teams and where they land in the ranking:
1. Cowboys $4 billion
6. Patriots $3.2 billion
8. Skins $2.85 billion
9. Giants $2.8 billion
10. 49ers $2.7 billion
13. Jets $2.6 billion
14. Texans $2.5 billion
16. Bears $2.45 billion
17. Eagles $2.4 billion
25. Packers $1.95 billion
26. Broncos $1.94 billion
27. Ravens $1.93 billion
29. Steelers $1.9 billion
31. Colts $1.88 billion
32. Seahawks $1.87 billion
33. Dolphins $1.85 billion
35. Falcons $1.67 billion
39. Vikings $1.59 billion
40. Panthers $1.56 billion
42. Cardinals $1.54 billion
43. Chiefs $1.53 billion
44. Chargers $1.525 billion
45. Saints $1.515 billion
46. Buccaneers $1.51 billion
47. Browns $1.5 billion
49. Titans $1.49 billion
50. Jaguars $1.48 billion
When you look at the five teams outside the ranking, or even those teams near the bottom of the ranking, you see that the primary factor in how Forbes factors worth is wins. The least valued teams have not won much of late.
Sure, a new stadium would be nice, and probably help things, but nothing carries more value than winning. The Raiders finished 7-9 last season, their best record since 2011 and up from their 3-13 finish in 2014. If they continue that upward trend, we could see them inside this list soon.
One last thing to consider is that these value estimates are not official in any way. They are not a definitive value of what a team would sell for. A team’s actual worth is whatever someone is willing to pay for it. In that regard, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would put the Raiders value higher than Forbes.
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