Hometown Glory
Texans may not make the playoffs, but they're big winners in the money game
What makes a sports team successful? Obviously wins don't hurt. But when Forbes measured the most lucrative professional sports franchises, it wasn't just the champions earning top spots.
'To the victors go the spoils' is still the order of the day, but when it comes to raking in dough, new stadiums with pricy luxury boxes, astronomical broadcasting fees and corporate naming rights are equally important.
The Texans, with a value of $1.15 billion, rank No. 10 on the list. A key figure in their financial picture is the $300 million in stadium naming rights from Reliant, the largest naming rights fee in the entire NFL.
Wherever you live around the world, the football teams are the global sports money makers. The No. 1 team in the world, according to Forbes? Manchester United of the English Premiere League, with a value of $1.83 billion and revenues of more than $450 million per year. ManU is joined by Spanish Liga powerhouse Real Madrid at No. 6 and Arsenal at No. 8.
NFL teams dominate the top 10, with the Dallas Cowboys and their brand-new billion dollar stadium second on the list, worth $1.65 billion. Behind them are the Washington Redskins in fourth place (that's a spot they're pretty familiar with in the NFC East), the New England Patriots at No. 5, the New York Giants at No. 7 and the New York Jets at No. 9.
The only other sport to crack the top 10 is baseball, with The New York Yankees in third, with a boost from the team-owned YES network that broadcasts most of their regular-season games. In contrast, the highest-ranking NBA team is the Los Angeles Lakers, which squeaks in at No. 49.