American sport franchises are ridiculously valuable and expensive. Between the ticket sales, the TV deals, all that merchandise and the name recognition, it's not a surprise that teams are worth so much. Forbes put together the 50 most valuable sports franchises and several NBA teams cracked the list.
Only seven teams made the list this year, with four teams falling out of Forbes' top 50. They were Spurs, Rockets, Mavs and Heat. Here are the seven teams that still made the cut.
7. Brooklyn Nets - $1.8 billion
This is a common theme on this list, but market matters. And moving to Brooklyn really helped the Nets. They're the only team on this list worth less than $2 billion, but $1.8 billion is nothing to be upset about. The Nets are 47th among all sports teams.
6. Los Angeles Clippers - $2 billion
The "other" Los Angeles team is sixth in the NBA and 39th among all sports teams. That's one spot less than last year's rank and it's because the Clippers actually had no increase in value. Every other NBA team on this list had growth.
5. Boston Celtics - $2.2 billion
Boston was fourth in value last year, but a new team has jumped them (see below). With just a five percent rise in value, the Celtics are 30th among all sports franchises.
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4. Chicago Bulls - $2.5 billion
The Bulls are outside the Top 20 overall, but they're still top four in the NBA. A nine percent jump value wasn't enough to keep the Bulls inside the top three, like they were last year.
3. Golden State Warriors - $2.6 billion
A (soon to be built) new arena and another title do wonders for value. The Warriors jumped by a massive 37 percent in value, pushing them to 20th overall among sports franchises. The Warriors were just sixth among NBA teams last year.
2. Los Angeles Lakers - $3 billion
This is one of just two basketball franchises in the top 15 of American sports teams and it's the two you'd expect. The Lakers were tied for seventh last year, but an 11 percent jump in value pushed them up a big higher. If Los Angeles can actually start winning again, maybe they can get into the top five.
1. New York Knicks - $3.3 billion
New York is dealing with dysfunction with its actually team, but they're still insanely valuable. The Knicks jumped by 10 percent this year, keeping them in the fourth spot. They're the most valuable NBA franchise, because market matters a lot
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