Forbes Asia - October 2018

Game of

Inches

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE team values have plateaued.

he value of an average franchise increased 2% over the past year,

to $2.57 billion. hat was the smallest increase since 2011, when the

average igure increased 1.4%. When adjusted for inlation, values fell

by 0.7% this year.

he primary reason: the dearth of people who have the liquid

wealth to buy 30% of an NFL team. When Jerry Richardson put the

Carolina Panthers up for sale ater last season, some pundits were

predicting the team could go for $3 billion. Billionaire David Tepper

got it for $2.3 billion because he was the only person at the table with

enough cash to satisfy the league’s inancing rules.

he NFL has the strictest ownership requirements among the four

major U.S. leagues. In a team sale, the general partner must own at

OCTOBER 2018 FORBES ASIA | 51

MATT HAWTHORNE

EXCLUSIVE NFL TEAM VALUES

Cash Cowboy:

Dallas owner

Jerry Jones.

Why the boom in NFL team values

has slowed to a crawl.

FORBES ASIA

SPORTSMONEY

BY MICHAEL K. OZANIAN, KURT BADENHAUSEN AND CHRISTINA SETTIMI