160+ NFL franchise value statistics 2021 [Research Review]

Posted on 01 November, 2023 by Nicholas Rizzo

Based on recent industry analysis, we have collected data on the franchise value of the National Football League. This report also includes team revenues and the impact of the COVID-29 pandemic on the sport.

2021 NFL franchise value

  • In 2021, The total franchise value for the NFL is $111.48 billion and the league average is $3.48 billion
  • The most valuable NFL franchise is the Dallas Cowboys at $6.5 billion, an increase of 14% from its value of $5.7 billion in 2020, and a 54.8% increase from its $4.2 billion in 2016
  • The Buffalo Bills have the lowest franchise value at $2.27 billion, an increase of 11% from its value of $2.1 billion in 2020, and a 51.3% increase from its value of $1.5 billion in 2016
  • The difference between the highest and lowest franchise value is $4.4 billion
  • In terms of franchise value in relation to:
    • Brand, the Cowboys is worth $707 million than the Bills
    • Stadium, the Cowboys overshadow the Bills by $1.34 billion
    • City and market size, the Cowboys is worth $1.39 billion more than the Bills
    • Revenue shared among all NFL teams, the Bill’s $2.09 million pale in comparison to the Cowboy’s $2.87 billion

2020 NFL operating income

  • The Dallas Cowboys once again tops the list as the team with the most spending cash, logging in $280 million in operating income
  • The team with the lowest operating income is the Los Angeles Chargers with -$49 million 
  • 62.5% of the NFL teams had negative operating incomes in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic

Team

Franchise value in 2021 (billion)

Revenue in 2020 (million)

Operating income in 2020 (million)
Dallas Cowboys $6.5 $800 $280
New England Patriots
$5 $478 $142
New York Giants
$4.85 $350 -$13
Los Angeles Rams
$4.8 $422 $37
Washington Football Team
$4.2 $388 $25
San Francisco 49ers
$4.18 $374 -$45
Chicago Bears $4.08 $370 -$3.6
New York Jets $4.05 $345 $8.4
Philadelphia Eagles
$3.8 $371 -$26
Denver Broncos $3.75 $368 $8.2
Houston Texans $3.7 $397 -$20
Seattle Seahawks
$3.5 $362 -$21
Green Bay Packers
$3.48 $371 -$34
Pittsburgh Steelers
$3.43 $364 $24
Miami Dolphins $3.42 $372 $7.9
Las Vegas Raiders
$3.42 $389 -$5.1
Baltimore Ravens
$3.4 $352 -$21
Minnesota Vikings
$3.35 $365 -$9.7
Indianapolis Colts
$3.25 $350 -$20
Atlanta Falcons $3.2 $353 -$4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
$2.94 $364 $1.9
Kansas City Chiefs
$2.93 $364 $9
Los Angeles Chargers
$2.92 $339 -$49
Carolina Panthers
$2.91 $351 -$22
New Orleans Saints
$2.83 $378 -$16
Jacksonville Jaguars
$2.8 $361 $69
Arizona Cardinals
$2.65 $353 -$16
Tennessee Titans
$2.63 $354 -$12
Cleveland Browns
$2.6 $375 $5.7
Detroit Lions $2.4 $330 -$22
Cincinnati Bengals
$2.28 $348 -$17
Buffalo Bills $2.27 $340 -$18

NFL revenue per team 2019 vs. 2020

  • In 2020, the team with the biggest annual revenue is the Dallas Cowboys at $800 million
  • Though the Cowboy’s $800 million is remarkable despite the pandemic, it is still a drop in revenue of 18.4% from 2019’s $980 million
  • The Detroit Lions generated $330 million in revenues, which is only 41.3% of the largest league earner 
  • In 2019, total league revenue reached $15.2 billion and decreased by 19.7% in 2020, t0 $12.2 billion
  • The New York Giants lost the most revenue at 35%, down from $547 million in 2019 to $350 million in 2020
  • Not all teams lost revenue during the pandemic as the:
    • Las Vegas Raiders’ revenue increased by 9%, from $357 million to $389 million
    • Los Angeles Rams’ revenue increased by 5.2%, from $401miklion to $422 million
Team 2019 revenue (million) 2020 revenue (million) % change
Dallas Cowboys $980 $800 -18.4
New England Patriots $630 $478 -24.1
Los Angeles Rams $401 $422 5.2
Houston Texans $530 $397 -20.1
Las Vegas Raiders $357 $389 9
Washington Football Team $504 $388 -23
New Orleans Saints $469 $378 -19.4
Cleveland Browns $431 $375 -13
San Francisco 49ers $530 $374 -29.4
Miami Dolphins $461 $372 -19.3
Philadelphia Eagles $509 $371 -27.1
Green Bay Packers $485 $371 -23.5
Chicago Bears $477 $370 -22.4
Denver Broncos $470 $368 -21.7
Minnesota Vikings $448 $365 -18.5
Pittsburgh Steelers $457 $364 -20.3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers $419 $364 -13.1
Kansas City Chiefs $410 $364 -11.2
Seattle Seahawks $472 $362 -23.3
Jacksonville Jaguars $443 $361 -18.5
Tennessee Titans $422 $354 -16.1
Arizona Cardinals $422 $353 -16.3
Atlanta Falcons $467 $353 -24.4
Baltimore Ravens $460 $352 -23.5
Carolina Panthers $447 $351 -21.5
Indianapolis Colts $426 $350 -17.8
New York Giants $547 $350 -36
Cincinnati Bengals $397 $348 -12.3
New York Jets $497 $345 -30.6
Buffalo Bills $413 $340 -17.7
Los Angeles Chargers $392 $339 -13.5
Detroit Lions $411 $330 -19.7
League total $15,184 $12,198 -19.7

NFL average revenue multiple

To get the average revenue multiple for the NFL teams, you need to compare the franchise value to the revenue.

  • In 2020, an NFL franchise had an average revenue multiple of 6.39 which is 1.27% higher than in 2019
  • It is 56.7% higher compared to 2010

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Use of content

  • If you have any questions about the NFL franchise value piece, feel free to reach out to Nick Rizzo at nick@runrepeat.com. He’s also available to do interviews.
  • Data used in this research review is free to use in any online publication. Our only request is for you to link back to this original source.

References

https://www.forbes.com/nfl-valuations/list/#tab:overall

https://www.forbes.com/teams/dallas-cowboys/?sh=7de23a361426

https://www.forbes.com/teams/new-england-patriots/?sh=ac771b6966eb

https://www.forbes.com/teams/new-york-giants/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-rams/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/washington-football-team/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/san-francisco-49ers/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/chicago-bears/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/new-york-jets/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/philadelphia-eagles/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/denver-broncos/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/houston-texans/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/seattle-seahawks/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/green-bay-packers/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/pittsburgh-steelers/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/miami-dolphins/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/las-vegas-raiders/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/baltimore-ravens/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-vikings/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/indianapolis-colts/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/atlanta-falcons/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/tampa-bay-buccaneers/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/kansas-city-chiefs/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-chargers/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/carolina-panthers/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/new-orleans-saints/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/jacksonville-jaguars/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/arizona-cardinals/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/tennessee-titans/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/cleveland-browns/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/detroit-lions/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/cincinnati-bengals/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/buffalo-bills/

https://www.nfl.com/photos/the-most-valuable-nfl-franchises-according-to-forbes-0ap3000000530683

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2021/08/05/the-nfls-most-valuable-teams-2021-average-team-value-soars-to-35-billion-as-league-shrugs-off-pandemic-year/?sh=5fa1fbf9654e

https://www.statista.com/statistics/193497/nfl-franchises-average-revenue-multiple-since-2005/

Author
Nicholas Rizzo
Nicholas Rizzo
Nick combines 10+ years of experience in the health and fitness industry and a background in the sciences in his role as the Fitness Research Director. During his competitive powerlifting years his PRs have him sitting in the top 2% of bench presses (395 lbs), top 3% of squats (485 lbs) and top 6% of deadlifts (515 lbs) for his weight and age. His work has been featured on Bodybuilding.com, LiveStrong, Healthline, WebMD, WashingtonPost, and many more. Along the way, collaborating with industry leaders like Michael Yessis, Mark Rippetoe, Carlo Buzzichelli, Dave Tate, Ray Williams, and Joel Seedman.