The NBA, where a Big Three combination of players often proves successful on the floor, has a Big Three in terms of franchise value, too. The Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are the league’s most valuable franchises by a long distance, Sportico announced in its annual assessment on Wednesday.
The Warriors are worth $9.14bn, the Knicks $8.3bn and the Lakers $8.07bn, per the report. Golden State is considered the second most valuable franchise in US sports, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys ($10.3bn). The assessments include ownership’s real estate as well as team-related businesses such as WNBA franchises.
The average NBA team is worth $4.6bn, a 15% rise over last year and nearly twice the worth from four years ago. The Warriors, who have an affiliated WNBA expansion team set to start next year, saw their value go up 10% from 2023. The Knicks had a 12% rise, and the Lakers had a 10% hike.
The Brooklyn Nets are fourth on the list with a $5.7bn value, a rise of 43% from the club’s 13th-place ranking last year. Billboard cited the Nets’ Barclays Center venue as the world’s highest-grossing arena as of April. Rounding out the top 10 are the Los Angeles Clippers ($5.68bn), the for-sale Boston Celtics ($5.66bn), the Chicago Bulls ($5.56bn), the Miami Heat ($5bn), the Houston Rockets ($4.77bn) and the Toronto Raptors ($4.66bn).
