We always seem to hear about how owners of professional sports teams have a hard time making money. And now more than ever, fans realize how much bologna that usually is. However, it does seem to be easier to make money in certain sports than others. The Knicks, Giants, and Jets are all proof of that for New York-area squads.
Mike Ozanian of Forbes compiled the data and recently published an article highlighting the 25 most profitable pro sports teams over the past three years. Ozanian used operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) as the main determination for these rankings. Here’s the top 25, with the aforementioned New York teams bolded:
- Dallas Cowboys
- New England Patriots
- Tottenham Hotspur
- New York Knicks
- Manchester United
- Houston Texans
- Golden State Warriors
- Los Angeles Lakers
- New York Giants
- Manchester City
- Los Angeles Rams
- Liverpool
- Washington Commanders
- Chicago Bulls
- Chicago Bears
- Dallas Mavericks
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Boston Celtics
- Denver Broncos
- Miami Dolphins
- New York Jets
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Houston Rockets
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Bayern Munich
Overall, we’ve got five soccer teams, seven NBA teams, and 13 NFL teams on this list. Ozanian also offered the following reasons as to why no NHL or MLB teams cracked the top 25:
- They suffered the most from the pandemic when it came to attendance
- Their broadcasting deals aren’t as lucrative
- MLB’s competitive balance tax, which tries to keep spending down instead of having a hard salary cap
The Knicks generated an operating income of $404 million, while the Giants finished at $333 million, and the Jets were at $253 million. Not too shabby considering these teams haven’t won a championship during this time and haven’t had too many playoff appearances to speak of.
As they say, the brand is strong.
You can reach Matt Musico at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.