31 October2019

List Of The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands

Brands, like the athletes and entertainers who endorse them, can have great comebacks—or quickly go out of favor. The brand value of a sports team is impacted by the performance of its management and players. Sporting events can be nurtured or neglected. The results show up in our brand values.

The Forbes Fab 40 determines the value of the top brands in sports by quantifying the amount the name contributes to the value of the athlete, event, business or team. There’s nothing secretive about our methodology.

Business Brands (Values in millions)

1. Nike, $36,800 : Over the past two years, shares of Nike have outperformed Adidas by more than two-to-one and Under Armour by more than four-to-one.

2. ESPN, $13,100 : ESPN generates more than $3 billion in operating income thanks to monthly affiliate fees of $8, the highest of any sports network.

3. Adidas, $11,200 : In April, Beyoncé and Adidas announced a partnership for the performer to develop signature apparel and footwear for the brand.

4. Gatorade, $6,700 : Gatorade commands 77% of the sports drink market in the U.S., dwarfing rival Powerade's 15% share.

5. Sky Sports, $4,400 : Sky Sports’ Premier League audience grew by 12% in the United Kingdom in 2018-19.

6. Puma, $4,000 : During the first nine months of 2019, Puma’s share price rose 60%, to $79.

7. Under Armour, $3,500 : Over the last two years, Under Armour’s operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) has decreased 72%, to $157 million.

8. UFC, $2,400 : UFC and Disney inked a seven-year streaming deal earlier this year that pays UFC upfront fees for its pay-per-view bouts on ESPN+.

9. YES, $1,500 : In September, a group led by the New York Yankees bought the YES Network from Disney for $3.47 billion.

10. Reebok, $800 : Currency-neutral Reebok brand sales were down 3% in 2018, but the brand still returned to profitability.

*Difference between brand’s enterprise value and the average enterprise value of comparable businesses
 

Event Brands (Values in millions)

1. Super Bowl, $780 : Kantar Media estimates CBS generated $382 million in advertising revenue from Super Bowl 53, down from the $408 million NBC pulled in for the title game the year before.

2. Summer Olympic Games, $375 : NBC rang up $1.2 billion in national ad sales for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, slightly less than the amount the network pulled for the prior Summer Games in London.

3. NCAA Men’s Final Four, $300 : Television ad spending for March Madness was between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion, according to Kantar Media.

4. FIFA World Cup, $282 : Some 2.49 million people watched at least 30 minutes of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, a 27.7% increase from the previous World Cup in Brazil.

5. College Football Playoffs, $255 : In 2014, ESPN began paying an average annual rights fee of $470 million for the College Football Playoffs on a deal that runs through 2025.

6. WrestleMania, $245 : WrestleMania 35 at MetLife Stadium this year grossed $16.9 million, second in the event’s history to the $17.3 million grossed at WrestleMania 32.

7. UEFA Champions League, $168 : Media rights and sponsorship revenues for the Champions League and the Europa League are expected to average a combined $3.52 billion per season from 2018 to 2021.

8. Kentucky Derby, $155 : Churchill Downs completed a $37 million renovation in 2018 that added more than 1,800 seats in 32 new suites and a third-floor grandstand.

9. Winter Olympic Games, $150 : PyeongChang 2018 was the biggest Winter Games ever on social media; official content was consumed by 300 million users and resulted in more than 1.6 billion video views.

10. MLB World Series, $122

*Average, per-day revenue from media, sponsorships, tickets and licensed merchandise
 

Athlete Brands (Values in millions)

1. Roger Federer, $62 : Federer’s $86 million in off-court earnings from partners like Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz and Rolex is nearly 60% more than any other athlete’s total.

2. Tiger Woods, $33 : Woods has earned $1.4 billion from sponsors since he turned pro in 1996.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo, $29 : Within 24 hours of its release, Ronaldo’s Juventus jersey sold 520,000 units, worth over $60 million.

4. LeBron James, $28 : In 2018, James teamed up with Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lindsey Vonn to launch Ladder, a health and wellness company.

5. Lionel Messi, $20 : Messi has a lifetime deal with Adidas that reportedly pays him more than $12 million per year.

6. Stephen Curry, $17 : In 2017, Curry formed a new company, SC30, to manage his investments, brand partnerships and philanthropic ventures.

7 (t). Neymar, $15 : Neymar is the second-most-popular athlete on social media, with more than 200 million followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

7 (t). Phil Mickelson, $15 : Mickelson’s sponsorship deals have earned him some $700 million over the course of his career.

9. Virat Kohli, $14 : In 2018, Kohli won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, awarded to the best cricketer of the year, as well as ODI and Test player of the year honors.

10. Conor McGregor, $12 : Before his return fight at UFC 229, McGregor renewed his sponsorship deal with Reebok, which pays the Irishman some $5 million per year.

*Difference between athlete’s endorsement income and the average endorsement income of the top ten athletes in the same sport
 

Team Brands (Values in millions)

1. Dallas Cowboys, $1,039 : The Cowboys make more money from sponsors and premium seating (suites and club seats) than any other NFL team.

2. New York Yankees, $815 : The Yankees generate $100 million more in revenue than any other MLB team.

3. Real Madrid, $725 : Earlier this year, Real Madrid signed an eight-year kit deal extension with Adidas that runs through June 2028 and is worth a record $113 million per year, plus 20% of team merchandise sales.

4. Los Angeles Lakers, $674 : The Lakers pull in $150 million a year from their local TV and radio deals.

5. Golden State Warriors, $606 : The Warriors’ $20 million-per-year jersey patch deal with Rakuten leads all NBA teams.

6. New York Knicks, $563 : During the 2017-18 season, the Knicks raked in almost $60 million in club seat revenue, the most in the NBA.

7. Los Angeles Dodgers, $554 : The Dodgers earned $170 million in local television rights fees in 2018, the most in MLB.

8. Boston Red Sox, $532 : More people attended concerts at Fenway Park in 2018 than at any other baseball stadium.

9. Chicago Cubs, $518 : In 2020, the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group will launch Marquee Sports Network, which will be the exclusive network for watching Cubs games.

10 (t). New England Patriots, $465 : In February, the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, in the Super Bowl to win their sixth title in ten trips to the championship game. 

10 (t). Barcelona, $465 : In 2018, FC Barcelona inked a training shirt sponsorship deal with Turkish electronics company Beko that is worth a total of $63 million over three years.

*Portion of team’s enterprise value not attributable to the size or demographics of its market, the venue or league-shared revenue

Source : FORBES - October 2019