The Dallas Cowboys was the most profitable sports team worldwide over the last three years, generating an operating income of over 1.25 billion U.S. dollars. The highest placed soccer team on the list was Manchester City of the Premier League. City reported an operating income of 478 million U.S. dollars over the past three years.
Tottenham Hotspur’s financials
Based on the operating income generated in the three years before 2023, London-based soccer outfit Tottenham Hotspur was one of the most profitable teams in the world. Breaking down the revenue of the Spurs by income stream, commercial revenue constituted the largest share of the club’s overall annual income in the 2022/23 season. Meanwhile, there has been a steady increase in the brand value of the soccer club in the last decade. Overall, Spurs generated 631 million euros in revenue in the 2022/23 season alone, constituting a 20 percent increase over the previous year.
Broadcasting rights fees of sports teams
For fans of sports teams who cannot attend games in person, watching the live coverage of their favorite players’ performances is a convenient alternative. Every year, media agencies pay large sums of money to sports associations for the right to broadcast games to the public via television and on the radio, among other broadcasting channels. In 2022, the annual broadcasting rights fee of the Premier League was estimated to be around 3.64 billion euros. Meanwhile, the annual value of NFL TV broadcasting rights in the United States was valued at 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Overall, the annual value of live sports broadcast rights in the United States was forecast to reach an industry-wide valuation of 29 billion U.S. dollars by 2026.
