Forbes' list of the most valuable sports teams, List of professional sports leagues by revenue, "Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Teams 2019: Atlanta Stays On Top As Expansion Fees, Sale Prices Surge", "Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Clubs 2023: LAFC Is The First Billion-Dollar Franchise", "Save The Crew: How A Seemingly Impossible Mission Now Seems Very Possible For The Columbus Crew", "LAFC value hits 1 billion dollars, but who's buying? If theres even a small chance that MLS could become a top league in the world at some point, the potential return associated with that would be enticing.. It should be noted that the Forbes numbers are merely an estimation ultimately, a clubs value is simply what someone is willing to pay for it. Trapped in an onerous stadium deal in hard-to-reach Bridgeview, Ill., Chicago ranked 15th out of 23 teams in revenue and lost more money than all but one other club in MLS in 2018, according to Forbes. For teams at the bottom of the spectrum, that SUM money can account for around 25 percent of annual operating revenue. yers, the academies, you look at what teams like Philadelphia and Dallas have done, theyre starting to make money in the transfer market, added Carey. Or, depending on who you ask, it could have no impact at all even without a big pop, valuations might just continue growing. Last year, hedge fund manager Albert Friedberg bought 9% of Orlando Sports Holdingwhich owns Orlando City SC, the NWSLs Orlando Pride and Exploria Stadiumfor $42 million, valuing the entire operation at $491 million. The Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati also opened new stadiums in 2021, boosting revenue dramatically for the small-market clubs; Nashville SC will follow next year in a building that will have one of the largest capacities of any soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. MLS will have 21 clubs in soccer-specific venues when Nashville opens. He'll need an impressive summer to enter the defensive end . Forbes' annual MLS team valuations were released on the eve of MLS Cup 2019, and for the second consecutive season, Atlanta United top the list. Clubs big clubs occasionally go bankrupt in Europe. The owner who spoke to, on condition of anonymity likened buying a team to buying a piece of fine art. Chart. They might grow at two or three percent a year, in my view that would be successful for them. The two knew each other well from the private equity world and had together invested in Italian soccer club A.S. Roma. The 2022 World Cup's Highest-Paid Players, Highest-Paid NFL Players 2022: Tom Brady Leads The List For The First Time, Majors, Monopolies, Megabucks And Donald Trump: Inside The Business Of The New Saudi Golf League, The World's Highest-Paid Golfers 2022: LIV Golf Reshuffles Top Earners And Sends Pay Soaring. The leagues single-entity setup owners technically buy a stake in the league, then are given rights to run a particular club; the league pays most player salaries means the floor for any one MLS club is relatively defined. The Fires bottom-line wasnt any better. Per the arrangement, MLS is guaranteed at least $2.5 billion over 10 years, and possibly more based on subscriptions. . That kind of ecosystem has allowed some clubs to turn into global powers in a way all but unimaginable for an MLS team, but it has led others to become over-leveraged, which can lead to disaster. Forbes compiles the finances of all 28 MLS teams to produce an annual ranking of the best franchises in terms of valuation. That wont be changing any time soon, either. Greg Careys client list could double as a directory of some of the highest-profile teams in the world. But I think people love it. So, MLS serves this interesting opportunity for some folks who are American or live in America and want a piece of the American sports ecos, There are other non-financial elements at play, as well. That figure tracks with the $4.3 million payment that The Athletic reported D.C. United received from SUM in 2016. That potential is the most important justification for the leagues growing valuations. The return comes in the form of a capital gain when its sold. Number of teams: 29 teams. Yet, recent transactions indicate a league on fire, with teams selling at frothy multiples reminiscent of a late 1990s tech stock. Barring a significant increase in spending before and after that tournament, the league may not experience exponential growth off the back of 2026 instead, its more likely that the competition will lead to incremental improvements. With fans in the U.S. and Canada able to watch all of the major European leagues and Liga MX on cable or via streaming platforms every week, whats to stop them from continuing to tune into those leagues over MLS after 2026? That didnt stop Mansueto from paying a fortune for a stake in the club. It allows you to draft off of their massive following and migrate some of those Liga MX viewers to MLS. In addition, Cohen sees other paths for MLS to increase the value of rights fee values through retaining homegrown stars, attracting international stars, broadcast innovations and format/scheduling tweaks. Dollars). Its less of a financial hurdle to control an MLS team than [in] some other sports, so you do see more people who can do it, says Rosenthal, who is worth an estimated $1.3 billion. Forbes estimates Toronto is worth $44 million, up four-fold in just three years. The transfer window, the trading of players, the academies, you look at what teams like Philadelphia and Dallas have done, theyre starting to make money in the transfer market, added Carey. As the owner put it, there is no arbitrage police who sort of show up and go, Hey wait a minute, youve been trading at 15x revenue for 10 years. Forbes released their annual MLB Valuations for 2022. MLS Team Valuations Over the Years. Thats all well and good, but, as outlined above, others arent as confident in those assumptions. The club will pay Bridgeview a total of $65 million through 2037 to get out of the lease. Theres going to be a lot of things you can watch on television, on your laptop, your phone, that can be commoditized, theres substitutes for. By the time the first home game in franchise history arrived last month at freshly christened Q2 Stadium, Austin was already a winner. Put simply, Major League Soccers surging expansion fees and sales prices are not being driven by financial performance. Clubs ancillary revenue streams, such as non-MLS events, were included. If selling players becomes consistent, that previously untapped revenue stream should eventually contribute positively to club valuations. Barely a year later, Mansueto took full control, buying Hauptmans remaining 51 percent stake at a valuation of $400 million, a dramatic increase from the $240 million valuation at which he bought in just 14 months earlier. Shortly before he took full ownership, Mansueto and Hauptmancompleted a deal to buy the Fire out of its stadium lease in Bridgeview. Los Angeles FC ranks first at $860 million, while the Colorado Rapids rank last at $370 million. [8][9] The report has also applied more context to MLS trends, such as the decrease in valuation in relationship with the decrease in attendance for Chicago Fire FC. There are a number of networks that could end up in the mix for the next round of MLS rights. If youre putting together a pitch for why someone should buy an MLS team, I think one of the things youre including is that most other North American leagues are already at the pinnacle of their sport, said A.J. Big market teams dominate the top of our valuations table with Atlanta United ($845 million), L.A. Galaxy ($835 million), Seattle Sounders FC ($705 million), NYC FC ($655 million) and Toronto FC ($650 million) falling in behind LAFC. That could result in club valuations tanking. As an asset, it will probably appreciate over time, but there are still many more certain ways for the extremely wealthy to make money. In fact, the mega-wealthy in at least six cities, including billionaire David Tepper in Charlotte, are already lining up for the chance to spend $300 million-plus just for that elusive chance to cash in years down the line. That may start looking like a very smart bet in 2026, when the World Cup returns to the United States for the first time since the 1994 edition that fueled the launch of MLS. The league has long instructed clubs to not sign any local broadcast agreements beyond the 2022 season, giving MLS maximum flexibility in how it wants to package its national rights. It has been a different story in MLS. And in 2026, soccer should get another big boost when the United States, Canada and Mexico cohost the next World Cup. It even sent fans to a match in Germany to study European fan culture. Real estate is also a big part of the equation. MLS ratings lag other top soccer leagues, with an average viewership in the 350,000 range versus 855,000 for Liga MX and 414,000 for the Premier League in the U.S., according to Nielsen. Forbes unveiled this year's list and put Atlanta United of the MLS as the number 1 teams. [4] Los Angeles FC became the new team for highest valuation after Atlanta United FC was number one in 2019. Forbes values the club at $335 million, discounting for the control premium and the fact that, for all the hype around the downtown move, the club has long struggled to find either relevancy or financial success: Chicago has ranked among the leagues bottom five in home game attendance since 2013, and the team has yet to turn a profit in its 22 years. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

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