A new local TV deal and the league’s highest take from premium seating propelled the Knicks into the top spot of the Forbes annual NBA team valuations, which the magazine released today via Forbes.com, as Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes.com details. The Lakers, last year’s most valuable franchise, fell to No. 2, but they remain the league’s most profitable team, Badenhausen notes, adding that Forbes’ findings show the Nets as the only team not to turn a profit, which the NBA will surely dispute. Indeed, the league often dismisses the Forbes data, though it doesn’t make its information publicly available.
NBA franchises are worth an average of $1.25 billion, according to Forbes. That’s 13% more than last year as the league continues to show gains even after last year’s 74% jump, which was related to the $24 billion TV deal the league struck with its media partners in 2014, as Badenhausen points out. Forbes pegs 13 teams at $1 billion or more, up from just three in 2015. Teams generated $5.2 billion in revenue and $900MM in operating profit last season, according to Badenhausen. The Knicks are worth more than every U.S. sports team except the NFL’s Cowboys and Patriots and Major League Baseball’s Yankees, Badenhausen notes.
Here’s a look at how each NBA team stacks up, according to Forbes:
- Knicks: $3 billion (last year: $2.5 billion)
- Lakers: $2.7 billion (last year: $2.6 billion)
- Bulls: $2.3 billion (last year: $2 billion)
- Celtics: $2.1 billion (last year: $1.7 billion)
- Clippers: $2 billion (last year: $1.6 billion)
- Warriors: $1.9 billion (last year: $1.3 billion)
- Nets: $1.7 billion (last year: $1.5 billion)
- Rockets: $1.5 billion (last year: $1.25 billion)
- Mavericks: $1.4 billion (last year: $1.15 billion)
- Heat: $1.3 billion (last year: $1.175 billion)
- Spurs: $1.15 billion (last year: $1 billion)
- Cavaliers: $1.1 billion (last year: $915MM)
- Suns: $1 billion (last year: $910MM)
- Raptors: $980MM (last year: $920MM)
- Trail Blazers: $975MM (last year: $940MM)
- Wizards: $960MM (last year:$900MM)
- Thunder: $950MM (last year: $930MM)
- Kings: $925MM (last year: $800MM)
- Magic: $900MM (last year: $875MM)
- Jazz: $875MM (last year: $850MM)
- Nuggets: $855MM (last year: $855MM)
- Pistons: $850MM (last year: $810MM)
- Pacers: $840MM (last year: $830MM)
- Hawks: $825MM (last year: $825MM)
- Grizzlies: $780MM (last year: $750MM)
- Hornets: $750MM (last year: $725MM)
- Timberwolves: $720MM (last year: $625MM)
- Sixers: $700MM (last year: $700MM)
- Bucks: $675MM (last year: $600MM)
- Pelicans: $650MM (last year: $650MM)