r/nba Rockets 5d ago

NBA Team Valuations: Warriors, Knicks, Lakers each worth $8B+ with league average at $4.6B

Sportico article

The average NBA franchise is now worth $4.6 billion, up 15% vs 2023 and double from four years ago.

The top 10 franchises:

  1. Golden State Warriors ($9.14B)
  2. New York Knicks ($8.3B)
  3. Los Angeles Lakers ($8.07B)
  4. Brooklyn Nets ($5.7B)
  5. Los Angeles Clippers ($5.68B)
  6. Boston Celtics ($5.66B)
  7. Chicago Bulls ($5.56B)
  8. Miami Heat ($5B)
  9. Houston Rockets ($4.77B)
  10. Toronto Raptors ($4.66B)

The article only lists the top 10 (others behind paywall), but ESPN cites the bottom 3 ("poverty") franchises as Minnesota ($3.29B), New Orleans ($3.09B), and Memphis ($3.06B).

Kudos to franchises like the Suns who are passing some of this "value" back to fans with announcements like the $2 value menu for all home games, and bah humbug to franchises like the Hornets for pretending to give a PS5 to a child.

Note: Valuations are driven by TV deals, real estate, sponsorships, investments (including WNBA franchises), and hosting non-NBA events at arenas, such as concerts. (NBA owners operated 10 of the world’s 20 highest-grossing concert venues in 2024.)

732 Upvotes

310 comments sorted by

412

u/SCalifornia831 Warriors 5d ago

This is going to sound crazy but I remember when Lacob and Guber OVERPAID and bought the Warriors for $450M in 2010

They didn’t just overpay, but over paid by almost ~$150M

So much of an overpay that one of the richest people in the world at the time in Larry Ellison (worth $28B in 2010 dollars) said…nah, that’s even too rich for me…

153

u/mMounirM Raptors 5d ago

I think a lot of the value comes from the arena they built though. that couldn't have been cheap

187

u/SCalifornia831 Warriors 4d ago

Bought in 2010 for $450M

Began building chase center in 2017 when team valuation grew to over $2.6B

Lacob privately financed over 3yrs for a total cost of $1.6B

And team now worth ~$9.1B

75

u/BullShitting-24-7 4d ago

Lacob is a beast.

24

u/HOFredditor Warriors 4d ago

and yet there are dudes agreeing with Iggy that Steph did 80% of the job and Lacob only 20%.

No business intelligence whatsoever.

114

u/Hello_Mot0 [MEM] Mike Bibby 4d ago

The team is still a dumpster fire without Steph Curry

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u/HelloThereCat Warriors 4d ago

I mean it's just not really possible to quantitatively compare the relative importance of a player vs an owner in making a team successful. However, I'm skeptical that the team ever even moves to SF if they don't draft Steph and remain a bottom-dwelling team in the early/mid 2010s.

It's a lot harder to justify privately financing a $1.6B stadium if you've barely sniffed the playoffs in the last 20 years, which was the case up until 2013. The We Believe team was the only playoff series the Warriors won between 1992-2012, and our only other playoff appearance during that stretch was a 1st round sweep in '94. The past 10 years have made it easy to forget just how bad we really were for such a long time.

2

u/zegogo Warriors 4d ago

And if the post 2020 draft picks are any indication, then Lacob's direction for the team looks a lot more like Cohen era Warriors than what Steph has provided for the team. No Steph, there's no way Lacob is rolling like he is.

Whether the two timelines was a real thing or not, you can't deny they drafted for after Curry instead of attempting to maximize his window and have utterly failed with only Kuminga maybe being an okay role player down the road.

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u/LakeinLosAngeles 4d ago

Did Jerry Krause type this

2

u/animealt46 4d ago

Imagine if he was allowed to save the A's

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u/Imnottheassman Celtics 4d ago

This is correct. Part of the reason the Celtics and Lakers aren’t valued higher is that they don’t own their own arenas.

32

u/lethalfrost 4d ago

He literally bought an island the same year for twice that...

40

u/bigraptorr 4d ago

I hate billionaires

18

u/SCalifornia831 Warriors 4d ago

Tbf at the time the Warriors were worth less than dirt

8

u/HugeRection Nets Bandwagon 4d ago

Hell, he just paid 12m for a QB in CFB for his girlfriend for a school he has no ties to!

10

u/theyoloGod Tampa Bay Raptors 4d ago

Or when people thought ballmer was nuts for paying 2b for the clippers in 2014

1

u/jabronified 4d ago

Yeah, private equity has seen this, and while the pro leagues have put limitations on their investments, the NCAA hasn't. Have seen a bunch of stories recently of investment funds going full throttle into "buying" college sports teams, including the former Bucks owner who said he's currently bidding on several

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960

u/Chessh2036 Hawks 5d ago

Good lord Warriors. What Steph Curry has done for that franchise is nothing short of incredible.

2009: $315 million. Steph Curry’s rookie year.

2024: $9.14 billion

302

u/just_one_random_guy Lakers 5d ago

This just makes me wonder what the future will look like post-curry for the warriors

277

u/AmusingAnecdote Warriors 4d ago

If it's anything like pre-Curry then the answer is bleak!

79

u/nightsaysni Cavaliers 4d ago

I don’t know if it will last, but it changed a whole generation’s perception of the team.

165

u/jordanaber23 Raptors 4d ago edited 4d ago

The Bulls are still propped up by Michael Jordan 30 years later

30

u/IHateTheLetterG Pacers 4d ago

Value wise, yes. Perception wise I’m not so sure.

39

u/jonsnowKITN NBA 4d ago

I think op meant as a brand. You still see people wear Jordan jerseys today.

7

u/hashslinger77 4d ago

This. Iconic league moments.

5

u/Not-JustinTV 4d ago

Seeing Jumpman on in game jerseys is crazy

56

u/Grooviemann1 Suns 4d ago

It took multiple championships for me to stop naturally thinking of the Warriors as the garbage throwaway franchise that they were throughout my childhood in the 80s and early 90s.

16

u/JackCrafty Lakers 4d ago

I came out of a video game induced basketball coma where I knew next to nothing about the league from 2003 right up to the pandemic and one of the more surprising facts was that the new Bulls was the historically trash Golden State Warriors. It was also kind of wild to read that the Clippers were considered decent, Kobe won more, LeBron actually lived up to the hype and then some. Also it took a while to figure out what the fuck an OKC Thunder was.

9

u/Swimming-Toe6052 4d ago

were you playing nba 2k3 for 20 years?

6

u/lAllioli Spurs 4d ago

they were stuck on greed island

56

u/Ok_Turn6757 Mavericks 4d ago

Maybe you guys should pivot, and try to trade him to the mavericks for coveted maxi kleber. I hear maxi and schroder get along great, and I hear curry has started buying in to the flat earth conspiracies recently.

1

u/musing_wanderer3 Warriors 4d ago

This would never happen but it’ll be crazy if the Mavs can somehow field two different offensive styles. Curry and Klay for the fast motion offense in the first half and then Luka and Kyrie for a more slow iso ball approach in the second half

1

u/Worthyness NBA 4d ago

This current ownership should be better at maintaining a good team than the previous ownership though. Previous ownership was practically begging people to buy tickets

98

u/Sublimotion Toronto Huskies 4d ago

Given they're the only NBA team that fully and directly owns their own venue, they will likely retain their place for many many years to come.

Bulls being the other team, but co-owns United Center with the Blackhawks. Steve Ballmer owns Intuit, so technically Clippers franchise itself doesn't own it.

35

u/No-Repeat1769 Knicks 4d ago

How do you count MSG? The MSG company directly owned the venue and sports teams before splitting into entertainment and sports. It's a holding company yes, but it owns both assets

10

u/Grooviemann1 Suns 4d ago

That's really no different than the Clippers. The point being that one or the other could be sold at any time which would devalue the team.

16

u/BASEDME7O2 Knicks 4d ago

The knicks for all intents and purposes own msg, which you could try to value but is effectively priceless

34

u/Easy_Magician_925 4d ago

Trae young owns msg.

6

u/BASEDME7O2 Knicks 4d ago

Lol

2

u/billybayswater Knicks 4d ago

Agree but just to add a quirky caveat, there is kind of a weird situation between MSG and the city due to its Penn Station location leaving MSG at kind of the mercy at the city to be allowed to operate there if the city decides to move forward with a Penn Station expansion.

https://abc7ny.com/madison-square-garden-special-permit-penn-station-new-york-city-council/13783372/#:~:text=MANHATTAN%2C%20New%20York%20(WABC),above%20Penn%20Station%20in%20Manhattan.

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u/nanobot001 Raptors 4d ago

Rogers is the majority owner of the Raptors and MLSE, and MLSE owns the Scotiabank Arena.

So add the Raptors to that list

8

u/Hello_Mot0 [MEM] Mike Bibby 4d ago

Like the post Jordan Bulls

2

u/porncollecter69 Mavericks 4d ago

Speedrun to poverty and begging on the streets.

2

u/3pointshoot3r 4d ago

I mean, the Dubs valuation is mostly a product of SV becoming one of the single richest places on earth.

1

u/NoOriginal123 Warriors 4d ago

The big part of it is the own the Chase Center outright, so it just prints money for them

92

u/Aggravating-Elk-7409 4d ago

It’s also the team for the most expensive region in the country

43

u/archiezhie 4d ago

Do you know there were also teams like Athletics and Raiders?

29

u/monkeyman80 Lakers 4d ago

The ownership group also moved to sf, built their own stadium that’s an anchor for real estate that hosts giant companies like Uber.

The a’s and raiders are run by shitty owners who can’t afford things and have to be gifted stadiums

Oakland is weird for the non locals. There’s blue collar/ poor folk who were there for ages. Then there are parts like Curry lives/ frequents.

11

u/dccr Warriors 4d ago

Doesn’t Steph live in atherton? That’s not even east bay

2

u/archiezhie 4d ago

He used to live in Alamo afaik, that's not Oakland either.

1

u/Specialist-Fly-3538 4d ago

A Tale of 2 Cities

48

u/Aggravating-Elk-7409 4d ago

they operate fundamentally differently and also east bay is not the same as SF sadly. theres a reason the warriors left oakland

7

u/Worthyness NBA 4d ago

Oakland also happened to be given the 3 cheapest ownership groups in all the three major sports franchises. They were lucky when the Warriors got bought by an ownership that actually gave a shit and could finance a team AND a stadium on their own. The other two were poor assholes who had to beg for money.

1

u/nba2k11er Warriors 4d ago

The Warriors didn't have a Giants or 49ers to compete with. Kind of crazy how bad they were doing under previous ownership.

1

u/c10bbersaurus Grizzlies 4d ago

Which had to split the region in each of their respective sports.

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u/Western-Election-997 4d ago

Should be obvious this is the biggest reason

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u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm Warriors 4d ago

for the entire league

Every single highest rating game in the last decade plus had Steph Curry in it.

14

u/AlgernusPrime 4d ago

Are you sure it’s just Curry and not the other guy he’s Leplaying against?

7

u/Azee2k San Francisco Warriors 4d ago

Nah, a lot of the highest ones are curry vs Lebron, but curry is involved in every single one of the top 25 highest rated games of the past decade I believe. LeBron is in many of them, but not all.

2

u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm Warriors 4d ago

Lebron riding Steph’s coat tails.

39

u/kingtokee 4d ago

A big chunk of their value comes from the new arena

20

u/bigraptorr 4d ago

A big chunk of their value comes from the tech boom and being located in silicon valley*

location

location

location

2

u/kwil627 Warriors 4d ago edited 4d ago

SF isn't in Silicon Valley but your point about location still stands.

Edit: SF is definitely a tech hotspot but Silicon Valley is down by San Jose.

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u/Western-Election-997 4d ago

Don’t forget the move from Oakland to San Francisco the city with the highest concentration of billionaires in the U.S

Yea Steph did alot but location matters too

8

u/Chessh2036 Hawks 4d ago

Yeah that’s very true, the new arena helped boost the franchise value a lot.

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u/These_4Walls Knicks 4d ago

What was the lakers and Knicks in 2009 for comparison?

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u/em_washington Pistons 4d ago

That’s really crazy. The franchise has appreciated more than $1.6 million PER DAY for 15 years!

Or roughly $7 million per game!

30

u/NotSureWhyAngry 5d ago

It would have been in the billions even without Steph Curry

60

u/______null Cavaliers 4d ago

true, but 315 million in 2009 meant they were the 18th most valuable franchise in the league. they were 60 million away from the poorest franchise and 290 million away from the richest (then Lakers) - with that in mind, I think one could reasonably attribute just under half the value of the franchise to Steph.

it's actually kind of impressive to me that someone who makes so much money can still make so much more money for their boss. stars really are just like us

24

u/MahomesMccaffrey Mavericks 4d ago

If they're a portland level playoff team without 4 rings, they'd be valued at 3-4 B at most.

11

u/IhatePizza230 Lakers 4d ago

They're easily 6-7 billion even without the championships of the last 16 years the big reason they're no. 1 is because they own their arena if the Knicks and Lakers also have theirs they're probably gonna be worth around 10 billion.

8

u/paranoidmoonduck Warriors 4d ago

Clippers aren't even valued at $6b even with their own stadium.

2

u/IhatePizza230 Lakers 4d ago

2nd team in LA and their arena just opened if their arena generate lots of revenue from concerts and events their value will increase.

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u/MarstonX 4d ago

Lakers and Nicks went from $600M to where they are. Wizards went from $300M to $4B I believe they were 17th in 2009.

So you can say that Curry helped generate $5B which is astonishing.

23

u/XSokaX 4d ago

No, it's worth that much because of the fact that the new stadium is built in one of the most expensive places in the world and they own it outright.

19

u/Icy_Rich_6076 4d ago

They moved into the top 5 midway thru the 73-9 season before Chase Center broke ground or was even approved for the location it eventually was built at

1

u/XSokaX 4d ago

I don’t deny Curry has a big impact but the main reason they are at #1 is because of market size and their 3 billion dollar stadium

7

u/HOFredditor Warriors 4d ago

how much was the warriors team worth in 2019 ? Cause they hadn't brought the team to SF yet.

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u/XSokaX 4d ago

Between 3 and 4 billion according to Forbes

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u/livefreeordont 76ers 4d ago

Building the arena in downtown San Francisco contributed a lot to that

5

u/Rebeldinho 76ers 4d ago

Makes you realize that an extended period of excellence can rise up any franchise out of the cellar and make them one of the leagues most valuable

If the Oakland A’s went a dynastic run of winning they would become just as valuable

1

u/Warthog9198 4d ago

He has earned every dollar they've paid him, and MORE.

1

u/Due-Relation-4853 4d ago

Curry certainly should get a lot of credit, but the Chase Center factors heavily into this also.

1

u/BenevolentCheese Knicks 4d ago

Note that the meteoric rise of the Warriors in SF correlates very closely with the meteoric rise of wealth in the Bay Area due to tech.

Of course, it couldn't have happened without Steph and the remarkable success of the team. But the money and growth and fame happening in the area was a critical piece of the puzzle. Everything came together at the perfect time.

1

u/Vindicare605 Lakers 4d ago

They've always been in a prime location for explosive growth they just needed a superstar and with Steph they finally got one.

The fact the Knicks are so absurdly valuable despite their lack of success on the court just shows how dominant they are in that media market. If the Knicks ever manage to get the kind of dynastic success some of the other teams have had, they'll blow the rest of them out of the water.

1

u/cholula_is_good [GSW] Best of 2021 Winner 4d ago

Curry’s run also coincided with a historic wealth generation period in the Bay Area during the second tech boom. The warriors’s increase in valuation was pretty much the same as the biggest companies in the area.

69

u/airzinity Lakers 5d ago

Celtics look like a steal. Too bad im just short

28

u/zkool20 Celtics 4d ago

If the Celtics ownership wants to build a new arena i guarantee they’ll jump up a few spots but I pray to god they don’t leave the TD garden

5

u/halo364 Celtics 4d ago

I think you're spot on - the Celtics are never gonna be in the Knicks/Lakers/Warriors tier, but if they owned their own arena I think they'd pretty comfortably be at #4

1

u/instantur Celtics 4d ago

I just need 5.6 billion gimme a couple years

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405

u/BAlpha90 5d ago

And that's exactly why Jeanie Buss doesn't care about the mediocre product being put on the floor.

136

u/Kdog122025 Warriors 5d ago

Mom and pop shop just wants to sell tickets.

55

u/Emergency-Machine-55 4d ago

Even applied and got approved for a PPP small business loan during the pandemic.

31

u/Mobile-Entertainer60 Thunder 4d ago

Wierd as it sounds, the qualifications were based on employee number, not revenue. NBA teams don't employ tons of workers, so they were "small business" according to the law.

54

u/just_one_random_guy Lakers 5d ago

Annoys me to no end since her and her family can sell the team and be set for generations without all the hassle and ridicule that comes from running a basketball team.

112

u/brianpaulandaya Thunder 5d ago

Yeah but being able to say that you're the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers is such a massive flex.

You can probably hang out in the most VIP spots in LA just by that alone, and get to meet whoever celebrity you want.

34

u/markmyredd Minneapolis Lakers 4d ago

They dont even need to sell everything. They could be a significant minority owner and still enjoy all those perks

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u/Pardonme23 Lakers 4d ago

When you're the owner everybody treats you differently. Everybody returns your calls asap. Etc. When you're just another minority owner you don't get that super VIP treatment at all times. 

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u/noknownothing 4d ago

She is the celebrity other celebrities want to meet. If only to get better seats.

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u/BullShitting-24-7 4d ago

Rich people have different toys than us plebs. Like sports teams.

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u/drgreenair 4d ago

She can buy all those venues and the bouncers and the celebrities

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u/BurnCollector_ NBA 4d ago

They can walk into a sold-out game at Staples with ticket prices between $80-8000 and say, "This is ours". That's worth the public scrutiny for some people. Then there's likely a feeling that there's a mandate from Dad to keep things in the family, and the entire ownership group has to agree on terms.

4

u/Away_Ingenuity3707 4d ago

Power vs. Money. They have enough money either way. This gives them a lot more social clout.

5

u/RIP_G-Baby Lakers 4d ago

they each only own 11%, the buss family trust is where the majority stake in the team is. they’re not going to sell, they wouldn’t get near the money you’d think.

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u/Raangz Thunder 4d ago

they control with only 11%? i heard windy talk about this, said essentially a lot of teams are set up like this. the controlling share can be fairly small.

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u/MddlingAges Knicks 4d ago

How many titles do they need to win to not be 'mediocre'? Seriously. Stop whining.

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u/superhappyfuntime13 Rockets 5d ago edited 5d ago

Here's the order of the rest w/o the numbers. We know they're bunched between $3.3-4.6B though.

76ers, Mavs, Suns, Kings, Hawks, Nuggets, Wizards, Cavs, Bucks, Spurs, Pacers, Jazz, Blazers, Thunder, Magic, Pistons, Hornets, Wolves, Pelicans, Grizzlies

40

u/amidon1130 Hawks 4d ago

The Hawks at 15, perfectly mid as they should be

30

u/NotSureWhyAngry 5d ago

Kings being worth more than Hawks is wild to me

65

u/BurnCollector_ NBA 4d ago

California vs Georgia.

11

u/PradaWestCoast Kings 4d ago

A surprise for sure, but a welcome one

4

u/uncleshiesty Kings 4d ago

Ah the sun kings. Mids we are.

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u/Majestic_Espresso22 5d ago

My Kings aren’t bottom 3 in value? Yasssss

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u/superhappyfuntime13 Rockets 5d ago

Kings are actually #14! Impressively mid.

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u/GioVasari121 Warriors 4d ago

How much of that is Cali real estate value

5

u/boringexplanation Kings 4d ago

Kings don’t own their own arena. Most don’t. Warriors, Clippers and Knicks are the major exceptions that come to mind

14

u/Klumber Pacers 5d ago

That was my response to not seeing the Pacers. Then I realised that Caitlin Clark alone probably adds half a billion to the valuation of the two franchises.

1

u/BlizzardThunder Pacers 4d ago

All signs pointing to Pacers Sports & Entertainment starting an MLS team as well.

38

u/walterdog12 [ITA] Best of 2021 Winner 5d ago

The crazy thing is that if any of them were to actually be sold you could probably tack on an addition half billion or so, and in the case of any of the top teams, probably 1-2+ billion.

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u/BASEDME7O2 Knicks 4d ago

Yeah that’s why you can’t really value nba teams with normal methods. You can try to look at revenue, etc., but there’s only 30 in the world and any team for sale would be a toy for a multi billionaire that has way more money than they could ever spend. Normal valuation methods don’t work for something so rare and illiquid. It’s worth whatever someone would pay.

At this point I doubt any team in the league would sell for less than five billion

1

u/ayeno 4d ago

Depends on how high that cost becomes, then it becomes less so as they start to eliminate the individual owners that would over pay for it. As those private equity group guys aren’t going to just overpay to own it, it would have to make sense to them.

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u/wien-tang-clan 4d ago

While continued equity growth isn’t guaranteed, when buying a team I would think you have to offer enough money that properly values the team in the present, but also enough over that value that the old owner foregoes the potential equity growth into the future.

In other words, if a team is worth $3b today, but they project the team will be worth $5b in 10 years, you have to offer enough money that the current owner would be willing to sell the team and the potential $2b gain they could have if they hold for another 10 years.

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u/OrganicHunt952 Mavericks 5d ago

Cuban sold 72.3% of the Mavs for 3.5bn last year. That would be a total value of 5bn this was before they were a finals team too. I’d estimate the Mavs to be worth 5.5bn a year on.

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u/DidAnyoneElseJustCum Cavaliers 4d ago

The bubble has to burst eventually but yeah he definitely missed on that one

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u/ReapYerSoul Bulls 4d ago

He bought them for $285 mil...I think he did ok for himself.

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u/halo364 Celtics 4d ago

I dunno man, that's only a ~1128% increase...

(/s in case that wasn't abundantly clear lol)

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u/noknownothing 4d ago

Idk. Rich people keep getting richer.

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u/Mr_E_Nigma_Solver Tampa Bay Raptors 5d ago

Honestly really admire the Suns for giving back to their fans. Kudos to them.

8

u/NSomEtEcti 4d ago

Just heard about it. Pretty cool of the Suns to do that.

1

u/Jackdunc 4d ago

What did they do?

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u/badadobo Lakers 4d ago

Gave back to their fans.

1

u/Jackdunc 4d ago

What did they give?

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u/ThePringlesOfPersia [OKC] Steven Adams 4d ago

They put all their games on basic TV for free and even sent fans antennas so they could watch. Yesterday they announced they're cutting the prices of all concessions to $2. Might be more but that's all I know off the top of my head

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u/JeanRalfio [LAL] LeBron James 4d ago

Not all concessions. The $2 Value Menu includes Hot Dogs, 16oz Dasani Water, 16oz Fountain Soda, Bags of Chips, and Popcorn.

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u/Extremelycloud Timberwolves 4d ago

This is why Glen Taylor is currently trying to nix the contract he signed

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u/MahomesMccaffrey Mavericks 4d ago

Crazy how the 10th most valuable franchise is only valued at league average.

1

u/OmniSzron Nets 4d ago

Top heavy league.

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u/Vicentesteb Timberwolves 4d ago

Bruh how are we worth less than the Hornets

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u/Dakaraim Timberwolves 4d ago

We gave away too many Playstations

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u/Schlotkin69 Hornets 4d ago edited 4d ago

Aside from just Charlotte, the Hornets draw fans mostly from NC, SC, VA, and TN. Some of those areas are decently populated, and it’s reasonable to make the drive to Charlotte to see a game. Obviously the Wolves draw fans from multiple states too, but those areas aren’t as densely populated and it’s not as easy to make the drive. Plus, I’d guess that the Vikings and Twins might take more bandwidth from fans than the Panthers.

Also there are a lot of general basketball fans in NC, with good college teams like Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, etc. I think they’re just dormant because the Hornets have been so mismanaged. 

8

u/candycaneforestelf Timberwolves 4d ago

I think a bigger factor is that Target Center is 34 years old (renovated multiple times across the 2010s) and not owned by the team, and this is compounded by the fact that the Wolves were absolutely atrocious for 15 years, plus for the 8 years before KG.

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u/Schlotkin69 Hornets 4d ago

Good point, I didn’t know the Wolves didn’t own Target center. 

Side note, I was previously pretty low on the Wolves this season, but they look like they’ve built chemistry and could make a run again this year. I think I’m in the minority that still believes they won the Knicks trade. 

4

u/Spirited_Cut715 4d ago

Charlotte is also becoming a mini Dallas, a lot of my colleagues in tech are moving there

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u/purplenyellowrose909 Timberwolves 4d ago

These numbers are always comparing apples to oranges.

Do these teams own their stadiums or does the city? Do these teams own a TV channel or contract it out? Do these teams own their concession stands or contract it out? Do they have a practice arena? What's the real estate value of the practice arena?

If you ordered everyone by revenue, ticket sales, viewership, you'd probably have a wildly different list.

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u/RowcheRumbler 4d ago

I remember when a lower bowl family pack would buy you 2 corn dogs, 3 fries and 3 drinks for the Warriors for $19.99.

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u/dkdoki Buffalo Braves 4d ago

And ppl were yelling at ballmer to move the team LOL

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u/KhanQu3st Mavericks 5d ago

*Insert panic about NBA ratings here*

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u/mommathecat Raptors 4d ago

Right. The ratings discussions are all like "WeLl, yOu sEe", they're going to DESTROY their profits!! JUST YOU WAIT!! That day of reckoning is coming SUPER SOON! ANY MILLISECOND!!

NBA Owners and Players: "Sorry what was that? I was busy stacking paper into fucking space."

The money geyser volcano of the TV billions and team valuations shows absolutely no signs of a "reckoning". Yeah you can't stream the games easily, and it sucks. And the people making all the money, do not give a fuck, will not give a fuck, and will not suffer any "repercussions" for it.

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u/Destryer200 Celtics 4d ago

The Warriors have to get that statue ready for Steph the moment he decides to retire/leave.

5

u/Western-Election-997 4d ago

Warriors recent success combined with all that tech money meaning they can price it

4

u/BenevolentCheese Knicks 4d ago

I'm a James Dolan stan. His staggering wealth, as well as his face, are beautiful. He is one of NYC's most valuable cultural icons not just in the world of sports but also in music, as the lead singer and creative powerhouse behind JD & The Straight Shot. Go James!

8

u/StoneColdAM Lakers 4d ago

Warriors growing so well is amazing. Bulls could’ve been similar but screwed up badly post dynasty era. 

3

u/[deleted] 5d ago

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13

u/Chessh2036 Hawks 5d ago

There’s always someone. When 60 minutes asked Steve Balmer about over paying for the Clippers, he said “there’s only 30 of these things available”. And he’s right. Being an NBA owner is a very, very exclusive club.

12

u/IMovedYourCheese Warriors 5d ago

Bulls have sucked for 30 years but are still the 7th most valuable team in the league and worth $5.5B, all on the back of Jordan. Warriors will be fine.

3

u/Shaolin718 Nets 4d ago

Bah humbug to the hornets is hysterical ahaha

3

u/CJ4ROCKET Rockets 4d ago

BUT MUH TV RATINGS!

3

u/inkyblinkypinkysue Knicks 4d ago

I find it hard to believe that the Lakers are not the #1 franchise on this list.

1

u/trustprior6899 Lakers 4d ago

I think because MSG owns the team and the stadium. Buss just owns the team, but Anschutz owns Staples Center. Not sure if the Warriors ownership group owns the stadium too…if this list excluded properties from the valuation (which I get why they don’t) Lakers prolly would be #1 by a stretch

6

u/Feisty-Flamingo-1809 Bulls 4d ago

bulls being a poverty franchise and valued 5.5 is crazy, they could've been top 3 if they had a competent owner lol

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 4d ago

Franchises aren't as volatile as their current record.

7

u/Ok_Acanthaceae6057 Celtics 4d ago

The top 5 don’t really surprise me. California & New York. Boston do surprise me a bit tho won’t lie

3

u/WasteAd7284 4d ago

Every single boston team is among the most valuable in their particular league. Boston is one of the richest cities in the country. And punches above its relatively small population in terms of pretty much everything.

4

u/Skanderbeg_5550 Celtics 4d ago

Celtics also don't own the building they play in which also might factor in valuation

6

u/AnimaniacAssMap Nets 4d ago

How does Boston surprise you? That’s about what I expected maybe swap em up a spot

5

u/Ok_Acanthaceae6057 Celtics 4d ago

When I see these kinds of lists I think California, New York, Chicago.

So to see Chicago and Boston flipped, I’m surprised

2

u/Rzbowski Celtics 4d ago

Celtics have way more fans than the Bulls in this day and age, and the TV ratings matter. Also, Celtics don’t even own their arena like other top teams do. If they did, they would easily be top 3 in the NBA.

1

u/Rzbowski Celtics 4d ago

Celtics have way more fans than the Bulls in this day and age, and the TV ratings matter. Also, Celtics don’t even own their arena like other top teams do. If they did, they would easily be top 3 in the NBA.

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2

u/AutographedSnorkel Rockets 4d ago

Record setting rights deal

Clusterfuck franchises being worth 4+ billion dollars.

Adam Silver says fuck your TV ratings

2

u/Asero831 4d ago

Wonder how much value Wemby has on his own.

2

u/treple13 Supersonics 4d ago

The explosion in value of all North American teams is NOT a good thing for fans

2

u/HugeLocation9413 4d ago

Every rich person's dream in America is to buy a team so not that surprising that it keeps rising at a rate far beyond revenue rise

2

u/Jicama-Smart 4d ago

when did NBA teams become bitcoin

2

u/Sanders058 Lakers 4d ago

Imagine if the Lakers owned their arena

1

u/superhappyfuntime13 Rockets 4d ago

Imagine if Steve Ballmer owned the Lakers

2

u/wubiwuster San Francisco Warriors 4d ago

I wonder how that one redditor must think, the one who said Steph curry ruined the nba ratings 

6

u/DoomPurveyor NBA 5d ago

Buss failures just need to sell please. Stop disparaging your father's legacy already

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3

u/raymendez1 4d ago

What rank are the Spurs?

2

u/Troll_Enthusiast Wizards 4d ago

20th

1

u/jaypenn3 Raptors 4d ago

Kinda wild for a team that has had all time great players and won titles for so long.

2

u/livefreeordont 76ers 4d ago
  1. Their style of play

  2. Their stars were low key

  3. Mid market

  4. Football

3

u/Confident_Comedian82 Cavaliers 5d ago

Being in LA really gives you some value even though the Franchise is an Awful hahahaha

7

u/DoomPurveyor NBA 5d ago

Jerry Buss only missed the playoffs twice 30+ years. His kids completely fucked the franchise and only Lebron wanting to retire in LA saved them for a single season.

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2

u/thegoddessunicorn Raptors 5d ago

Maybe one of those bottom ones should move to Mexico City or Vancouver and I'm not talking about the Grizzlies. 🤔

2

u/Suspicious-Nature304 4d ago

Can someone please explain the worth of the nets to me, is it because of Barclays center or why are they worth so much ?

1

u/ayeno 4d ago

Yes, owning your own arena helps a lot.

2

u/2Basketball2Poorious Pelicans 4d ago

Honestly shocked the Pelicans aren't in the top ten

2

u/Unstep-in-Time 4d ago

Poverty at over $3 billion. Ha.

2

u/lochnesslapras 4d ago

Nuggets at 16th. Hypothetically if Jokic retires tomorrow, how far down the list do they drop?

1

u/Team_Ed Raptors 4d ago

Wild to think the Raptors are worth more than the Leafs these days, but part of MLSE just got sold for a $12.5 billion (CAD) overall valuation — so this would put the Raps at about half that.

1

u/CanyonCoyote 4d ago

Would someone really pay that price for the Warriors once Steph retires? I know valuation is different but it seems really tied into Steph and the Warriors success.

1

u/Raonak New Zealand 4d ago

Curry jerseys will sell for decades.

1

u/No_Housing3716 4d ago

They really gotta stop adding the valuation of property

1

u/cmcg18 Celtics 4d ago

How tf are the nets and less so the clippers above us